


The End of an Era

by Kihonne



Series: Heroes in the Making: An Elite Force [15]
Category: Lab Rats (TV 2012), Lab Rats: Elite Force (TV), Mighty Med
Genre: Angst, Dating, F/F, F/M, Family, Friendship, Grief, Growing Up, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kids, M/M, Marriage, One Shot Collection, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Romance, Siblings, Team Dynamics, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2020-01-06 00:37:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 39
Words: 116,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18377354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kihonne/pseuds/Kihonne
Summary: A look into the lives of the characters from the Elite Force series. A tribute series dedicated to the characters of "Heroes in the Making: An Elite Force" from The Lab Assistant: Bionic Superhumans to The Power of Seven: Missing in Action.





	1. Jazz MacFarlane

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own mighty med, lab rats, or the elite force, or anything from the original TV shows. I only own this story, Calla, Dani, Alivia, any other OCs present, and anything else you don't recognize.

**2019**

"Holy crap." I heard one of the patients laugh as I passed through the nurse's station, intending to grab a file for Dr. Jones.

"See? I told you all aliens were crazy." One of the nurses said to another. His friend shook her head.

"I'd be careful who hears you say that - those are Calderans, just like Dr. Short's girlfriend." She pointed out. I frowned, confused.

"What are you guys talking about?" I questioned. No one ever really told me anything, since I was the youngest member of the staff by far, but those two nurses, Henry and Colleen, were always nice to me. Henry pointed at the TV screen in the corner of the ER.

"...claiming to be actual aliens, Chip." The reporter on the news was saying. She disappeared from the screen and was replaced by footage of two dark haired guys and a Skylar Storm lookalike.

"Oh my God." I murmured, realizing that they actually were Calderans. I put down the file. "I'm going to go get Oliver."

Without waiting for a response, I raced up the stairs to his office. "Oliv...oh, crap." I stopped short when I opened his door to find him on his office's couch, making out with Skylar Storm. I turned around quickly, smoothing over my hair in embarrassment. "Sorry!"

"It's fine, Jazz." Oliver assured me. After a moment, he coughed, and I slowly turned back to see that he had put some space between him and the Calderan hero. "Skylar, this is our new intern, Jazz."

"Right. Your dad was the Great Defender, right?" Skylar guessed. I nodded, feeling a pang in my chest at the mention of my late father. But I didn't have time to think about that.

"Have you seen the news?" I asked Oliver, worried. He and Skylar exchanged confused looks.

"No, why?" He asked, frowning. I licked my lips nervously.

"You're going to want to. Especially you, Skylar." I told them. Skylar looked at Oliver, then reached past him for the TV remote. She turned on the TV and changed it to the CCNN. After a couple of seconds of watching the live footage, their expressions turned from confused to shocked. Skylar looked at Oliver.

"Where's your mission suit?" She asked.

"Back at Davenport Tower." He replied, turning off the TV. "Let's go."

Skylar nodded and started to follow him out the door. She paused briefly to give me a quick smile.

"Thanks, Jazz." She told me before running out. I smiled to myself, glad I was able to help, then started back to the nurse's station to get that file I still needed.

**2024**

"We are going to get in so much trouble for this. We're not allowed to be up here." But even as I protested to breaking the rules, I couldn't help but smile as Daniel pulled me out of the stairwell onto the brightly lit roof of Mighty Med 2.0.

"Please, it's not like anyone ever comes up here, so how will we get caught?" The blonde haired boy insisted, smirking. "Besides, my sister-in-law singlehandedly funds this place with my family's company. What can they really do about this?"

"Nothing to you, but they can fire me." I reminded him. He rolled his eyes, still holding my hands.

"Then we'll say I kidnapped you." He reasoned. I laughed at that and he grinned. "Deal?"

"Deal." I agreed. He beamed.

"C'mon then." He insisted, leading me towards the helicopter pad. He quickly hopped the 3-foot-tall fence that protected it, then offered me a hand up as I did the same. To my surprise, Daniel had come here beforehand and set up a little area for us, complete with a couple of blankets, a vegetarian pizza (which was even sweeter when I remembered that Meat Lover's was his favorite), and a couple of game consoles. There was a projector in front of it, projector an image of a Rocket League screen on the nearby wall.

"This is what you wanted to do when you asked me to hang out?" I asked. I wasn't sure why was I was all that surprised, and I certainly wasn't disappointed, just a little caught off guard.

"Well, I thought we could just make out a lot, but you were so worried about getting in trouble, and-" I cut off his sarcastic spiel by grabbed him by the shirt and pulling him into a kiss. When I let him pull away, he was grinning.

"I'm going to kick your butt." I teased him, pulling back and heading towards the game consoles. He laughed and followed me, grinning.

"Oh yeah?" He asked. I smirked and pushed my hair behind my head.

"Watch me!" I replied, grabbing a console.

**2029**

"The hell?" I frowned, confused as I felt the door knob to my apartment twist a little under my hand. I'd only grabbed it while trying to pull the keys out of my purse - it shouldn't have been unlocked yet. Did someone break in? No, no, no...this was not the day for this! No way was the best day of my life ending with my apartment being robbed.

I paused a moment, unsure if I should go in or not. Daniel was supposed to meet me here any minute - he had left just after the ceremony to pick up something from the store to celebrate my graduation. I hesitated, then decided that I was going to work at Mighty Med, I needed to be able to handle a house burglar - I mean, compared to all the attacks that had happened at the first Mighty Med alone, this should logically be part of our training, right?

I took a deep breath, then pushed open the door.

"SURPRISE!" I stopped short, staring at the numerous people standing in my apartment. There was a banner above the kitchen counter that read 'CONGRATS' in large, red letters, with balloons all around the room. I laughed in shock, hands raising to my mouth.

"Oh my god." I stared amazed. Daniel grinned from where he was standing in the kitchen, next to Spin and Nurse Colleen.

"You like?" My fiancé asked me, offering me a glass filled with bubbly champagne.

"Oh my god." I said again, smiling widely. "You did this?"

"I had to - my girl's a doctor now!" He grinned, putting his arm around me and pulling me in close. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not a doctor yet - I only just graduated medical school." I told him.

"So?" He asked, grinning.

"It means that she has to finish her residency first, dumbass." Spin replied. Daniel gave him a look.

"Dude, I'm dating a doctor. You're dating an engineer. Don't act like you're better than me." He retorted. Spin chuckled.

"Well, which one of us is Mission Leader?" He asked, almost sarcastic.

"Boys." Colleen chided. Spin rolled his eyes.

"Congratulations, Jazz." He told me before looking around. "But if you excuse me, I'm going to go find AJ, Bob, and Zoe."

"Thanks for coming." I smiled warmly at him as he made his way through the crowd. I turned back to Daniel.

"Did you really throw this party for me?" I asked him, still amazed. He smiled.

"You worked hard, and you got what you wanted - you deserve to celebrate that." He told me. I smiled widely.

"God, I love you." I told him, leaning upward to kiss him.

 


	2. Kate Krane

**2016**

Man, I really didn't like these ketchup bottles, I thought to myself as I tried to twist the unmoving cap. I'd kinda hoped that Jaden and Mr. Davenport would have switched bottles by now, preferably to those ones with the plastic top that you just had to flip open, but unfortunately, we were stuck with the ones with the twisty caps. And these annoying twisty caps just would not move!

Looking up to see if anyone was around, I spotted Calla and Chase at the far end of the cafeteria. I walked up just as Calla was leaving.

"Excuse me, Chase?" I asked, hopefully. I knew that Adam was supposed to be the stronger of the two, but maybe he could still help? "Can you help me open this?"

"Sure." He took the bottle from me and put his hand on the top, about to twist it, when he suddenly stopped. A peculiar look came over his face, and he grinned. "Wait. Did you just ask for my help?"

"Yes..." I nodded, a little confused why he needed me to repeat it.

"So you want me to help you?" He asked again.

"Uh-huh..." I nodded, starting to wonder if Chase had just been making up the whole 'bionic genius' thing.

"Me, Chase, is going to help you, Kate?" He confirmed. Oh, I was starting to get a bad feeling about this. It sounded like he was up to something, and I'd heard the stories. He, his brothers and sister, and Calla, all getting into trouble left and right. Maybe I could go find Kieran and get him to help me...

"Okay, maybe I should just ask someone else." I took the bottle back and started to turn around, but Chase grabbed my wrist. I looked at him, confused, and saw the smirk on his face.

"Oh no. you asked for my help, and you're getting it! There's no turning back!" He declared, pulling me into an empty classroom. Oh, what have I gotten myself into?

**2020**

"Whoa!" I cried, stumbling as my legs literally slid out from under me. Thankfully, Logan was close enough to catch me, grabbing my arm at the last second to help balance me.

"Whoa." He said gently, making sure I was okay. I gripped his arm tightly, forcing my feet to stay as steady as possible before I fell again.

"I'm sorry, Logan." I apologized, knowing that I'd almost taken him down with me. "I've never skated before."

"It's okay." He offered me a smile. God, how was he so steady on his skates? I could barely stand! "The only reason the rest of us know how is because Leo dragged us last Christmas."

Ah, that explained it. The mentors had all given us choices on what we could do with them over Christmas, as a small reward for doing so well on missions and stuff. Mr. Davenport had been taking students to a ski resort, while Adam had taken a bunch of us tubing (that's where I'd gone, along with a few of the other students who had thought it would be fun), and Leo had brought a bunch to the ice rink in New York. I was starting to regret not going with them just about now.

"Here," Logan offered me his arm. "Just grab onto my arm."

"Thanks." I smiled at him, taking his arm. He led me around the rink, keeping me safe from falling on the icy ground. I leaned my head against his shoulder, glad that he had suggested his little outing.

**2025**

"On three...two...one..." I chanted softly before walking into the living room and beginning to sing.

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..." Adam, Rio, Kieran, Taylor, AJ, Spin, Daniel, Zoe, Bob, Leo, Katherine, and Logan all began to sing as I carried the birthday cake into the room. My little Dallas was sitting in his high chair, looking around with total confusion as to why everyone was singing. Baby Frank was a in a chair next to him, staring at the cake in my hands with hungry. Even as a baby, he understood that birthdays meant sugary treats.

Poor Katherine was struggling to keep Charlotte in her arms, the three-year-old looking for an escape due to boredom. I know they called it the terrible twos, but the threes were worse, if Charlotte was any indication. At least we had a couple of years before we had to worry about that.

"Alright Dallas, blow out the candle." I encouraged. He just stared at me, so Logan sat down next to him.

"Blow, buddy." He told our boy, making a blowing noise with his mouth. Dallas merely laughed and made a raspberry sound. Logan laughed, smiled up at me, then turned and blew the candle out himself.


	3. Logan Krane

**2016**

I grinned, following Katherine towards the hydroloop tunnel. Tonight was going to be fun - it had been ages since I'd been off the island, and this festival Leo had told us about sounded like the best excuse to take a break from training.

"Katherine? Logan?" We stopped suddenly, hearing our names. Turning around, we saw Kieran and S-1 standing a few feet away from us, also wearing civilian clothing. "What are you doing here?"

"We're going to the festival." I answered brightly, wondering if I should invite them to come with us.

"You ain't supposed to tell 'em!" Katherine snapped at me, giving me a look. I frowned, confused.

"Oh? I thought we just were not supposed to tell the mentors." I apologized.

"Well, you certainly don't tell Mr. Teacher's Pet over here." She growled, waving her hand at Kieran.

"I'm not a teacher's pet!" Kieran argued, offended.

"Keep tellin' yourself that, darlin'." Katherine rolled her eyes. "Now, ya gonna bust us, or are ya gonna be a doll and keep your trap shut?"

"Hey, chill." Kieran assured her. "We're going to the festival too."

"Really? How'd ya find out about the festival anyways?" She questioned.

"Overheard Chase talking to Adam." Kieran explained with a shrug. "You?"

"Leo. Kid told me all about it." Katherine explained. I stayed quiet, watching the exchange. It was no secret that Katherine and Kieran didn't get along very well, so I doubted that she'd like my idea of us all going together.

"Wonderful. There go our plans." Kieran muttered, upset. S-1 shook her head quickly.

"What? No. We can all go, then split up when we get there." She reasoned. I smiled, glad that someone still wanted to go. "It'll be a big place - we probably won't even see each other."

"Perfect." I agreed before Katherine could find fault with it.

"I suppose." Katherine sighed. I smiled, pleased and excited for the festival. "So, we going or what?"

I grinned, following the others into the hydroloop. Tonight was going to be awesome!

**2016**

It wasn't hard to tell that Leo was really upset after what Chase and Calla had said, and he was right to. Chase was normally the stick in the mud, but I couldn't believe that Calla had gotten on our backs like that! It was just because she was Chase's girlfriend, I figured. Otherwise, I felt like she'd normally be fine with us going to another mentor when a first one refused to work with us.

"I hate this." Leo complained as the five of us walked out of the main training area into one of the less busy classrooms. This classroom was usually assigned to Adam, but since he preferred to take our classes to the training area or outside, it was hardly ever used. "I've worked so hard to prove myself, but it doesn't matter. They're always going to see me as their little brother who's barely bionic."

"If it makes ya feel better, I think the ability's wicked." Katherine offered. Taylor nodded in agreement.

"Same here." She voiced her opinion. I kinda felt bad for her, seeing as one of her cooler abilities could only be shared with Leo, who'd been forbidden from using it.

"They're just jealous." I mentioned, thinking aloud. Kieran looked at me.

"Of what?" He asked, confused.

"They're just jealous because they were born perfect and Leo was born a teeny-tiny weakling who-" Leo sent me a glare.

"Shut it!" He snapped. I stopped talking, even though I wasn't thrilled that he hadn't let me get to the part where he had to actually work for where he was now and that he'd improved more in the past few years than they had. "I'm so sick of them not taking me seriously. It's time to prove I'm as much a bionic hero as they are."

"I hear ya." Katherine grinned. I smiled too.

"We've got your back." Taylor agreed. Kieran looked at her, surprised that she was siding with Leo on this.

"We do?" He questioned.

"Yes, we do." Taylor gave him a look clearly telling him to get on board, but Katherine didn't seem bothered by the fact that he had doubts about joining us.

"Hey, if the teacher's pet would rather side with the mentors over his friends..." She trailed off purposefully, obviously bating the boy. And unsurprisingly, it worked.

"I'm not a teacher's pet!" He snapped before forcing a smile onto his face. "And of course I'm in."

"Same here." I added, giving Leo a grin. He smiled back at us, grateful.

"Thanks guys. It means a lot."

He fist-bumped Taylor, the first one to raise her hand to him, only to accidentally create a mini-EMP. Sparks flew from their hands and the lights shut off.

"Yeah, you guys gotta stop doing that." Kieran sighed from somewhere in the darkness.

**2023**

"Kate, I'm home!" I called, opening the door to our new apartment. It had taken us a while to be able to afford this place, seeing as we were both full time members of the Bionic Headquarters (and as much as we loved that job, being heroes didn't exactly pay the bills), but it had been worth it. It was a tiny little place, but it had a nice guest room and nice view of the city and it was just ours. No Katherine popping in to borrow clothes from Kate when she didn't feel like doing her laundry, or Kieran trying to get me to help solve an argument between him and Rio. "Kate?"

"In here!" She called. Frowning, I dropped my mission bag on the ground by the door and followed the sound of her voice to the kitchen. She was sitting at the counter with a tub of ice cream in front of her, a spoon dug deep in the frozen desert.

"Everything okay?" I asked gently, noting the peculiar look on her face. She gave me a nervous smile, hands wringing themselves. "Kate?"

"So, you know how Mr. Davenport has that rule about us all doing physicals twice a year if we want to remain active members of the team?" She asked. I nodded - he'd introduced the rule a few years back, when an injury that Katherine neglected to mention had come back with a vengeance during a mission and nearly cost her her life.

"Yeah...are you okay?" I asked quickly, remembering that Kate's had been this morning. "Katie?"

She pressed her hands together over her mouth and mumbled something through it. When I gave her a confused look, unable to understand her. She sighed and moved her hands. "I'm pregnant."

I stared at her for a moment. Then, I started laughing.

"Don't laugh!" She cried, smiling a little. I chuckled and sat down.

"I can't help it. This is AWESOME!" I grinned. She took a deep breath and looked at me.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yeah!" I grinned. "Kate, we're having a kid! If they end up being cuter than Charlotte, Katherine's going to freak."

Kate stared at me for a long moment, trying to determine how serious I was, then burst out laughing herself.


	4. Daniel Davenport

**2016**

I bounced my knee up and down nervously, staring at the scrap of paper in front of me. This was a bad idea - I just couldn't shake that feeling. I'd probably get in trouble for this, and really, was it worth it? My life wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either, and mediocracy wasn't permanent. I could change my life when I was older, sure, but did I really want to change it all now? That was the only thing I knew for sure would happen if I called the number I'd scrawled on the paper. If I just tossed it out now, or used one of my mom's lighters to burn it, nothing would have to change, and that wasn't a bad thing.

But still, there was a part of me that was too curious to ignore this. And maybe that was the part of me that was always getting me in trouble, but did that really mean I shouldn't listen to it? After all, curiosity may have killed that poor cat, but satisfaction always brought it back to life, right?

I stopped bouncing my knee and made a decision that I prayed I wouldn't regret. Closing my eyes, I dialed the number (who was I kidding about throwing it out? I'd had it memorized since the moment I wrote it down) and held my breath as it rang.

And then, to either my excitement or my disappointment, a man answered. "Hello?"

"Is this...is this Douglas Davenport?" I asked, letting out a breath to steady myself.

"Depends - who do you work for?" The man questioned suspiciously. I took another breath before answering.

"My name is Daniel...and I'm pretty sure I'm your son."

**2016**

I had to admit, this hydroloop tunnel was pretty cool. Not to mention, ten years ahead of its time, technologically speaking. But even though it was the fastest form of transportation on the planet (aside from teleportation, of course), it still didn't seem fast enough to me.

After what felt like forever and was in reality, only 8 minutes, the doors to the hydroloop finally opened up to reveal a cool, modern-looking room.

There weren't many people inside, though there were a few. I recognized Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo from the news - I still couldn't believe that I was biologically related to the four biggest heroes on the planet - and the other were two old guys. One had darker hair like Adam, but the other had spiky brown hair. Even if I hadn't googled the hell out of the guy, I still would have recognized our similarities - this was definitely Douglas Orville Davenport. My birth father.

"Whoa!" I grinned, getting out of the hydroloop. Even though I was admittedly a bit nervous, there was no way I was going to let them see that. "Nice digs."

"Hi, buddy." Douglas said, stepping up to me. "I'm your daddy, Douglas."

I gave the guy a once over, wondering if he were serious. Judging by the looks my cousins were giving him, he was.

"Yeah, uh, I know these pants are baggy, but does it look like I'm wearing a diaper?" I joked, putting my hands on my hips.

"Sorry." Douglas apologized before turning to my cousins. "These are Adam, Bree, Chase, and Leo. They're your cousins."

"Hey." I smiled at them, hoping to make a good impression. Maybe they'd give me bionics too, if I played my cards right. That would be cool.

"This might sound weird because we just met," Bree smiled at me brightly, seeming to like me right off that bat, "but I'm going to call you Danielle."

I frowned, confused, but didn't want to argue. "Alright, time to drop the whole father-son-reunion-thing," Donald Davenport, my uncle, interrupted, "and get to the real reason you're here; to meet your Uncle Donald."

He offered me his hand and I shook it excitedly. "Wow, so I get a brand new dad, an uncle, and all these cousins too." It was such a welcome surprise compared to my tiny family with just my mom and dad.

"Yep, we're your cousins." Chase grinned widely at me. Perhaps a little too widely, but I'd always heard that he was the weird one, so I brushed it off. "That's how we're related. Right, Adam?"

"I don't know." Adam sounded confused as he stared at a strange mess of lines and words. "According to this, I died thirty-five years ago."

"What?" I asked, bewildered. Douglas moved to put his arm around my shoulder, then awkwardly moved to just lay his hand on my shoulder.

"Let's take a walk and I'll explain everything." He told me, leading me off towards another room.

**2022**

God, this was so boring. Frankly, I didn't see why I needed to be here, but both Douglas, and my adoptive parents had felt it was important. Something about how it would be nice for me to be around for at least on of my niece or nephew's births, even if it was just Leo's kid. He wasn't even my brother! And it's not like it was my fault that Bree had to go into labor two days before New Year's eve, when it was impossible to get a flight, or that Emily was born in the middle of an almost war between the Elite Force and S.H.I.R.T.'s old management.

Besides, these kind of things took forever. Katherine had already been in there for six hours, and had already kicked Leo out and screamed for him to come back in twice. As entertaining as that was, it was still rather boring.

I turned the corner of the hospital, intending to find a vending without healthy food in it (Calla was the one funding this place, which meant there had to be at least one filled to the brim with delicious junk food), only to crash into a dark-skinned, curly-haired girl carrying a clipboard.

"Do you mind?" She demanded, dropping to her knees to collect the papers she'd dropped. I bent down to help, but she waved her hands at me. "No, I've got it."

"I'm sorry." I apologized as she held up one sheet that had accidentally fallen in a wet boot print, likely created by one of the heroes coming in during the rainstorm from earlier. She held it up, wrinkling her nose up in disgust.

"It's fine!" She snapped. I stopped, not wanting to upset her further. After a moment, she sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just been a long shift."

"That I can understand." I'd been here for two hours and all I'd been doing was sitting around. I couldn't imagine actually having to work here. "How long till it's over?"

"Twelve minutes." The girl replied, glancing at her watch. She looked up at me, pursing her lips in confusion. "Why?"

"Well, since this was my fault, I figure I owe you a cup of coffee at least." I offered. She hesitated. "I promise it won't be the vending machine kind."

She laughed at that. "I don't even know your name." She pointed out. I offered her my hand, helping her up.

"Daniel." I introduced myself. She smiled and shook the hand she was already holding.

"Jazz." She replied. "And I think I will take you up on that cup of coffee."

**2029**

"This is insane, right? Like, I'm totally crazy for doing this, right?" I questioned, staring myself in the mirror. I heard Douglas snort in amusement from behind.

"Chase mentioned you were a little nervous." He commented, amused. I turned and gave him a look before continuing to fidget in the mirror.

"I'm serious. I don't want to hear it from someone who's done it before. I want your opinion - is this a crazy idea?" I questioned. Douglas paused before questioned.

"This is really a question for your parents..." He trailed off. I rolled my eyes - he always tried this. Any time he was worried about stepping on their parental authority, he went to them. Granted, it gave him a great relationship with them, and had made it less weird to have him in my life when I was living with them, but it still got on my nerves every once and a while. "You love her?"

"Yeah." I nodded. That was the only thing I was certain of, to be honest.

"Then yeah, it's crazy, but crazy's not always bad." He reasoned. He glanced in the mirror, adjusting his sleeves. "I mean, your brothers and sister used to call me crazy."

"You tried to kidnap them and kill their friends." I pointed out.

"Good point, bad example." He admitted. He chuckled. "Look, Daniel, I can't say that I don't think marriage is crazy, because it is, but life's crazy, so you might as well create some of the crazy yourself and make sure you have a partner to go through the crazy with you." I smiled, a little amused. "What?"

"I think that's the wisest thing you've ever said." I told him, serious. Even he had to chuckle at that. Before he could make a joke, like I could tell he wanted to do, Spin opened the door.

"Time's up, Danny Boy. Time to get hitched." He announced.


	5. Caleb Jones

**2012**

"C'mon!" I called, annoyed as I watched the opposing player intercept one of our guys' throws. Usually, our team would play better, but tonight it looked like they were trying to lose.

"This is pathetic!" Trent Johnson, one of the oldest guys on the Mission Creek football team, complained. "I can do better than that!"

"Then why are you still in high school, man?" Aidan Davidson, another played joked. Trent scowled at him and tossed a pillow at his head.

"Careful!" Jaden Parker shouted over the noise. "You break another lamp, and my mom won't let you guys come over for football Sundays anymore."

"But your place is the biggest we've got." Aiden argued.

"Which is maybe why you should start avoiding the lamps." My girlfriend commented from where she was sitting at my side. Calla was sitting cross-legged, a bowl of chips in her lap. She glanced at me. "This is why I don't like football."

"We could have gone to my place." I reasoned. She rolled my eyes.

"You'd be watching the game anyway. Might as well be here, where there's snacks."

I chuckled at that, placing my hand on top of hers. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, but knew better than to answer it right now.

"No! No!" Calla shouted as another player made a mistake. "You idiot, pass it!"

Thankfully, this time the idiot listened, and sure enough, the guy he passed the ball to got it where we needed it to go.

"Touchdown!" We all shouted in unison just as Officer Parker entered the room.

"Calla! Phone call." She called. Calla turned to me.

"Be right back." She promised. I kissed her on the cheek and watched her go before finally pulling out my phone.

**From: Faith**

**Hey, it was nice hanging out with you today. We should do it again.**

I licked my lips, then glanced down the hall to make sure Calla wasn't coming back.

Now, I knew this wasn't exactly fair to her, or to this new girl, Faith. But it was just hanging out, and really, there was no reason to ruin something good for that, right?

**To Faith:**

**Absolutely. I'll check my calendar and get back to you.**

I pocketed my phone just in time to see Calla coming back into the room. She was grinning ear to ear, practically bouncing in her walk.

Yeah, no need to give her a reason to wipe away that smile.

"What was that about?" I asked, pulling her into my arms. She beamed and started telling me about this new job she'd gotten and how excited she was for it, and I couldn't help but wonder what Faith was doing right now.

**2013**

"Look, I can explain..." I tried. Calla glared at me, her eyes watery as she held a book up threateningly.

"No, get out." She ordered, her voice shaking.

"It's not what you think." I tried to explain.

"You've been dating her behind my back for almost ten months now!" She shrieked, actually throwing the book at me. I ducked, backing out into her backyard.

"Just because Faith says something-" I began, but she grabbed another book.

"She had pictures." She growled, hurt. I licked my lips nervously. Damn it, I'd forgotten about the pictures. "Did you know she was my cousin?"

"No, not...not at first." That wasn't a lie. It wasn't until a couple of months into the relationship had I realized that the girl I was seeing was the freaking cousin of my actual girlfriend. Man, I really knew how to pick 'em, right?

"Go to hell." Calla slammed the door in my face. I swore, listening to her lock it.

"Can I at least get my jacket back?" I demanded. I'd talk to her tomorrow, when she was calmed down, but for now, I actually did need my jacket.

Five minutes later, something came flying out her window. It landed on Officer Parker's rose bush, and I realized it was my jacket...covered in paint the same color Calla had been using for an art project for class. Okay, maybe I deserved that...

**2014**

Well, well, well...go figure: my first day at a new school, and the first person I saw was my ex-girlfriend, Calla. It had been ages since I'd thought of her, even longer since we'd spoken. I had to admit, a part of me wanted her back - a girl like that, with her looks and her brains, was the best choice amongst the randoms walking through this crappy, old school. She couldn't possibly still be mad at me, could she?

Walking up to her, I saw her send a quick text to someone named Bree. Unable to stop myself from reading it over her shoulder, I chuckled when I saw what she'd written.

"Well, it depends on your definition of cute." I teased. Calla spun around at the sound of my voice, then crossed her arms and glared at me.

Huh, maybe she was still a little mad...

"What do you want, Caleb?" She demanded.

"I wanted to talk to you, Cals." She rolled her eyes.

"Don't call me Cals, and I don't want to talk to you, so buzz off." I sighed at the hostility in her voice.

"Alright, Calla then." Whatever the little lady wanted. "But please, can't we just talk? Give me five minutes."

"Nope, see ya." She went to close her locker, but I grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Babe, please." There was no way I was ever going to get her back if I couldn't even get her to talk to me. And I would get her back - sure, Faith had been a mistake, but Calla was the hottest girl here by far. Why in the world would I make the same mistake with someone uglier than her?

Sure, she was mad now, but I would get her to understand. She had always been too forgiving for her own good anyway.

**2031**

"Hi." Jason dropped his bag on the kitchen floor as his mother's car sped away from house, Louise not even bothered to come inside.

"Hey, got any plans for tonight?" I asked, curious. It was a Wednesday night, and since I knew his girlfriend was in the Bahamas with her family (her mother possessed a considerable amount of our stock, and overtime we'd come to be quite close friends). I figured, if the kid had the night off, we could grab a few slices and head to the movies, like we used to do when he was a kid.

"Got plans with Gina." Jason replied, not looking up from his phone as he headed into the kitchen. He opened the fridge door, looking for something to drink.

"Who's Gina?" I frowned, not familiar with the name.

"Gina Desjardins? We have business class together." The sixteen year old told me. "We're going to the movies."

"I thought you were seeing Nicole." I mentioned, wondering if he'd broken up with the girl in the two weeks since he'd left to stay with his mom.

"I am. It's just a movie, Dad." He rolled his eyes. I nodded, knowing that it wasn't. It hadn't been for me, and he was too much like me.

"Hey, Jason." I stopped him as he grabbed a Pepsi. He stopped, looking annoyed. "Break it off with Nicole if you like this Gina so much. Don't be an idiot."

"It's just a movie, dad." He insisted, ticked off.

"Oh yeah, sounds like it." I rolled my eyes, grabbed my IPad, and headed upstairs to let the kid make his own mistakes.


	6. Skylar Lewis

**2014**

"Guys!" Mr. Davenport grinned as his front door opened and five teenagers walked in. I zeroed in on one of the girls in the doorway, finding her somewhat familiar. I couldn't help but shake the feeling that I'd seen her somewhere before. "I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Zachary Lewis, and his daughter, Skylar."

"Hi." I smiled at them, turning my attention to the whole group. Next to the familiar looking girl was a rather good looking guy, with spiky brown hair and a face to die for. Damn...Davenport had a hot son, that was for sure. It made me regret the fact that I hadn't gotten the lab assistant job even more now.

Dad stepped forward to shake the hand of the familiar looking girl. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Lewis." She told him, shaking it.

"The pleasure is all mine. It's so refreshing to see such an ambitious and dedicated young person." Dad responded, and I realized who she was. This must be Calla Parker, the girl who stole my job...I mean, got the position I'd applied for.

Seriously? This was the girl I'd be beaten out by? Why? There was no way she'd done better than me on the job application - Davenport had asked some pretty extensive questions about different scientific fields, and while I knew I'd done exemplary on it, there was no way anyone else had done as well. I'd always thought that maybe someone with more experience had applied, or even a prettier looking girl (he did seem quite vain in the interview), but this girl was exactly my age, and while I wouldn't stoop so low as to call her ugly, she was hardly anything more then ordinary in her looks. So why had she been picked above me?

Realizing that it was rude of me to just sit here, I stood up and walked over to them. "Hi, I'm Skylar." I told them, trying to ignore the lab assistant. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Chase." The hot guy introduced himself before the others did themselves. It confirmed my suspicions of who the girl was - definitely the lab assistant my father had mentioned - but if anyone realized my contempt for the lucky idiot, then they knew better than to comment on it.

"Why don't you six hang out?" Mr. Davenport suggested. "You can show her the new lab, if you want."

"You guys got a new lab? You are SO showing me" I gasped. "Come on!"

Out of instinct, I grabbed Chase's hand. I almost let it go, realizing that he might not be okay with some girl he just met grabbing his hand, when I saw the look on Calla's face. It wasn't quite angry, but she certainly didn't like what I was doing.

So, I didn't let go of his hand until we got down to the lab.

**2015**

"You have got to be kidding me..." I muttered, staring at the TV screen.

"In a shocking turn of events, the bionic superhumans have managed to capture a notorious criminal by the name of Victor Krane!" The news lady was saying. But that wasn't the part I was focusing on.

No, instead I was staring at the footage of Krane's arrest. In the background, I could see Calla Parker and Chase Davenport walk out of the warehouse, holding hands tightly, and in that moment, I knew that she had to have known their secret.

Well, no wonder she got the lab assistant job. That had been a prestigious opportunity - everyone knew that while Davenport could be full of himself, a job at his company would set you up with a career for the rest of your life - and Davenport had probably given it to the girl in order to keep her mouth shut. Now, that might not have been true, but it certainly was possible. I could see this family doing anything they had to in order to keep this secret, and if that meant giving one girl a job she didn't deserve...or dating a girl they didn't necessarily like...then they would, wouldn't they?

Maybe now that the secret was out, they wouldn't need to keep her around. Davenport could fire her and a position would open up, a position that would be perfect for me!

**2016**

"Congratulations, honey." Dad kissed my forehead as he pulled me close. I smiled, giggling a bit as the tassel from my graduation cap tickled my nose.

"I don't get why people congratulate people for graduating. I mean, you have to be an idiot these days to flunk out." My new boyfriend, Grant, commented. I gave him a look. "I mean, great job, babe. Knew you could do it."

"I can't believe I'm finally out of this place." A part of me was sad to go. I'd only transferred to the school a year and a half ago, but I was still going to miss it. I could see the people I'd had classes with all around, saying goodbye to their friends and our old teachers. Janelle Pettis was off chatting with Garrett Johnson and Jessica Henderson, Alistair St. Adams was speaking with Adam Davenport and Jaden Parker...it really was goodbye.

"So, MIT. You excited?" Dad asked, leading me towards the cake they'd made for the graduating students. I smiled.

"Of course." I assured him. He smiled at me, pride glowing in his eyes.

"I am so proud of you." He said again. I rolled my eyes, even though I couldn't help but smile. "Do you have any idea what you're going to do to this world?"

"She can't predict the future, Dr. Lewis." Grant pointed out.

"No, but she is going to change the world." Dad sounded so sure of it. "This world belongs to you, baby."

"The world belongs to anyone who is curious enough to go out and turn it inside out." I replied, turning to grab a piece of cake. Then I realized who I'd just been paraphrasing. I stopped for a moment, remembering the speech she'd given.

"You okay, honey?" Grant asked. I gave him a smile.

"Of course." I promised him.

**2029**

I tapped my foot impatiently, nervously, as I waited. I checked my phone again, scowling when I realized that she wasn't even late. I'd come early on purpose, but my nerves were starting to get to me.

Just then, I heard the door creak open behind me. "I have to admit, I was surprised to see your name on my interview list." A voice I hadn't heard in nearly thirteen years commented. I waited until Calla Davenport walked past me and sat at her desk before responding.

"Believe me, I never thought I'd be going to you for a job interview." I admitted, crossing my legs. "How have you been? I hear you have a daughter now."

"Emily, yeah. She's eight now." Calla smiled at the thought of her child. I smiled back.

"Mine's only six." I mentioned.

"It's crazy how fast they grow up, isn't it?" She inquired. I nodded in agreement. "What's their name?"

"Christopher." I replied. She nodded. I sat up, determined to get rid of this awkwardness as quickly as I could. "Look, Calla, I wanted to apologize, for everything that happened between us when we were kids. I was stupid and insecure."

"And you had a thing for Chase." Calla said, a hint of laughter in her tone.

"That too. I took it out on you. I'm sorry." I apologized. She looked at me for a moment, then sighed.

"Well, I wasn't always as fair as I could have been." She admitted.

"I was worse." I reasoned. She made a soft whine in disagreement, an embarrassed, apologetic smile on her face.

"Do you remember that time you found your locker filled with rotten fish?" She asked softly. I stared at her.

"That was you?" I demanded. She shrugged.

"Your biology average was almost 8% higher than mine, and you had bragged about that all over the lunch room. You weren't the only one who acted out when they were insecure." She explained. She clasped her hands together and placed them on her desk. "I'm sorry."

Part of me was wondering about all the other pranks that had been played on me throughout high school, now questioning whether or not it had actually been the football players screwing with the nerds like I'd originally thought, or if it had been Calla. But in the end, I only had one question: "Where'd you get all that fish?"

"Adam." She answered immediately. She raised her hand to stop me when I opened my mouth to ask another question. "I never asked where he got them, and we're both probably better off not knowing."

"You're probably right about that." I agreed. I offered Calla a smile. "Look, we're both adults now, and that was almost a lifetime ago. Maybe we can start fresh? Because honestly, I'd like to set a good example for my son, and having a two-decade long fight with a girl from high school probably isn't the role model thing to do."

"Really? I'm teaching Emmy to hold grudges for years." Calla joked. I rolled my eyes. "But you are right. And besides, it'd be nice not to hate my employees."

"Employee? I just came in here for an interview..." I trailed off, confused. Calla leaned back in her chair.

"We always do extensive research on whoever we interview, just in case we do decide to hire them, and your record is impressive. There's no doubting that, and frankly, we could use you." Calla admitted. I stared at her.

"You're giving me the job? Just like that?" I questioned. She shrugged.

"Well, I need to check in with your references, of course, but unless they tell me that you're moonlighting as a supervillain, I really don't see any reason not to hire you. So long as you don't mind Leo being your boss?"

"Dooley?" I questioned. She nodded and I sighed. "I can handle it."

"Good." Calla smiled. She stood up and offered me her hand. "It's good to have you on board, Skylar."

"It's good to be on board." I agreed, shaking it.


	7. Tasha Dooley-Davenport

**2012**

"Good morning, honey." I greeted Leo with a smile as he walked out of his bedroom. He stopped at the entrance of the kitchen, staring at the food spread on the table, eyes darting between the plate of bacon, the French toast, and the chocolate croissants suspiciously before looking at me.

"You been cooking again, Mom?" He asked slowly, confused. I smiled.

"No, sweetie - Donald stopped by that breakfast place this morning and brought us something to eat." I explained, placing one hand over the other. Leo nodded, still looking suspicious.

"So where is Mr. Richie-Rich?" He questioned. I gave him a look, not liking how focused my son was on Donald's money. "Big D?" He tried again. I gave him a look. "C'mon. Calling him Donald is weird, and Mr. Davenport feels too formal."

"I'm okay with Big D." Donald voiced his opinion, coming back in carrying the hot chocolate and the coffees. He kissed me before setting them down on the kitchen table. "And I was just getting these."

"O-kay." Leo sat down, watching us carefully. I guess it was pretty obvious that something was different this morning - none of us were really the family breakfast type.

"So, Leo, we wanted to talk to you." Donald began just as Leo had picked up his fork. My son stopped immediately, then dropped his fork.

"Holy shit, you're pregnant!" He exclaimed, eyes going as wide as saucers.

"God, I can't handle another one." "Leo, watch your language!" Donald and I both exclaimed at the same time. Leo and I both stopped and turned to look at Donald.

"What do you mean, another one?" Leo questioned.

"Do you have kids?" I whispered. He had never mentioned kids at all before. If he was springing this on me now...

"No, I just mean...my employees are like my kids..." Even he didn't seem to know what he meant. "Actually, a few of them are. Have you met my lab assistant? She's like twelve...or maybe fifteen..."

"Well, if you're not pregnant, what is this about?" Leo questioned. He hesitated. "Did you get a call from my school?"

"Should I be expecting one?" I returned. He shook his head.

"Nope." He popped the P, trying his best to look innocent. Oh dear, what did he do now?

"No, Leo, the reason we wanted to talk to you," Donald began getting us back on track, "is we wanted to know how you'd feel about me and your mom getting married?"

Leo didn't answer for a long moment. Then, he eventually asked. "Does this mean we have to stay here, or do we get to move into your giant mansion?"

**2013**

"I can't believe this is your house." Leo shook his head, staring at the mansion from beside the car. Donald grinned, clearly pleased to impress his new step-son, before dropping his bags next to the front door. He quickly unlocked the door, but before he opened the door, he turned around and swept me into his arms.

"Donald!" I laughed, not having expected this. He grinned and pushed open the door.

"Welcome to your new home, Mrs. Davenport." He told me, spinning me around. I cooed, readjusting my arms around his neck.

"Why thank you, Mr. Davenport." I replied, lying my head on his shoulder.

"'Absolutely, Mrs. Davenport." He responded, bringing his lips to mine. I could feel him smiling behind the kiss, my new husband having been grinning consistently since saying 'I do'.

"We get it: you're married! It's getting old!" Leo complained, dragging our suitcases into the house. Donald sighed and gently set me down on my feet. "WOW! You got this big house just from inventing things?"

"Yep." Donald replied, wrapping his arm around me.

"Now THAT'S a husband." Leo told me before turning around to admire the house. I couldn't help but laugh as I too admired the house. But whereas Leo was more concerned with the cool technology and high-end furniture, I couldn't help but see it as the next step in my, Leo, and Donald's journey together. This would be our home, through the ups and downs, and I couldn't wait to get this family started.

**2015**

"So, what does it look like?" Bree was pestering Calla and Donald when I came down into the living room. Most of the house was empty now, the majority of the bionic soldiers having been moved into Donald's new bionic academy. There were still a few staying with us, either asleep in the lab or one of the bedrooms. The kids should have been asleep too - it was long after 2 in the morning - but I didn't have the heart to tell them to go to bed. After all, it was their last night at home before they took off.

Donald had reassured me that with his new hydroloop, they'd only be twenty minutes away, and that he would be home at least 3 days a week, with a promise that he'd spend more time at home once the soldiers - or students, as he was now calling them - were settled in and the kids had a hang of things. Initially, he'd asked me to come with him to the island, but I just couldn't leave Mission Creek. My career was here, and as proud as I was for him and the kids taking on this kind of responsibility, I wasn't ready to leave the job I'd worked so hard to get.

"I'm going to miss you guys so much." I told them, kissing Leo on the head.

"Mom." He complained, rolling his eyes, even as he moved over so there'd be room between him and Donald for me to sit.

"We're going to miss you guys too, Tasha." Bree promised.

"You guys?" I repeated.

"Calla's staying behind too." Chase explained, squeezing his girlfriend's hand. I frowned, sure that Donald had told me that she'd convinced her mom to let her move to the island as well. I looked at Calla, about to say something, when I saw her rubbing her finger across her lips, subtly stopping to hold it over them. She must have been waiting to tell them in order to surprise them.

"You'll be careful, won't you? No unnecessary risks, no crazy psychopaths, no swimming around in the dark, okay?" I listed the things they were most likely to get themselves involved in.

"We'll be safe, promise." Adam swore. "Scout's honor."

"You aren't a scout, Adam." Douglas pointed out. Adam frowned.

"I'm not?" For a moment, he looked genuinely upset at that revelation.

"We'll keep them out of trouble, Tash." Donald promised me, kissing me on the cheek. I leaned my head up against his shoulder and watched as the kids continued to pester Calla about the island, even though she'd already told them that she was staying silent about the whole thing lest she ruin the surprise.

I wasn't kidding when I said I was going to miss them. Adam, Bree, and Chase had never been part of the deal with Donald and I, but they were like my own now, and it seemed like just yesterday that we were in the kitchen, eating dinner as a family for the first time. They were all my babies, and I just wasn't ready to let them go yet.

**2022**

"Can we go now?" Naomi asked for the sixth time since we'd arrived. Smiling to try and appear more patient than I was, I looked at my daughter.

"No, honey, we can't leave until after we've seen your new niece." I reminded her. She groaned and lied down on her stomach on top of the one of the chairs.

"Why can't Kath'rin just pop her out faster?" The five-year-old question. I heard a couple of snickers from some of the others, but chose to ignore them.

"It doesn't work that way, sweetie. Sometimes it takes a while." I explained. She sat up and shook her head.

"Calla was quick. When we came, she was already done." Naomi explained, as if that contradicted everything I'd already told her. "And Bree was fast too."

"How would you even remember that?" Jaden spoke up. Naomi turned and looked at him and Bree.

"I just do." She insisted, despite the fact that she'd called Bree's 14-hour labor quick compared to the six hours we'd been here. She turned to Donald instead this time, hoping her dad would side with her. "Can't we just come back tomorrow?"

"Don't you want to see Charlotte after she's born?" Donald asked instead. She shook her head.

"All Emmy did was sleep. Why do I want to watch a baby sleep?" She pointed out. I opened my mouth to tell her that she needed to be patient, and that maybe, if she quieted down a little, I'd find a picture book on one of the kids' tablets to read to her, but Douglas beat me to the catch.

"You know, Naomi, I was thinking of going to go get some snacks. I might need some help figuring out which ones are the good ones. You think you can help me out?" He asked. Naomi's face lit up.

"Yes!" She grinned before turning to me and Donald. "Can I? Please!"

"Promise you'll behave for your Uncle Douglas?" I asked. She nodded.

"Okay. Have fun." Donald told her. She beamed and followed Douglas into the hall, skipping as she went. Donald chuckled and looked at me. "Thank God she's cute."

"She's not the only one." We all looked up to see Leo stepping into the waiting room, carrying a tiny bundle in a pink blanket.

"Oh my God." Bree was the first out of her seat, rushing to go see the baby before anyone else could. I followed shortly behind, with everyone else behind us.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Charlotte Rose Dooley." Leo announced, showing us his baby girl. He was smiling so happily as he carefully laid her in Calla's arms.

"Isn't she beautiful, Mom?" He asked me. I smiled and kissed his forehead, pulling him close.

"Absolutely gorgeous." I assured him.


	8. Bob Krane

**2016**

For a while, I'd just been watching the older students mess around the weights and stuff. A part of me was wanted to go show off to the other students, but the other part of me wanted to wait for the gorgeous brunette that had been hanging around the weight room for a while. I'd thought she'd be back by now, but there was no sign of her returning.

"I'll see her later." I told myself as I headed over to the weights.

"Whoa, whoa! Dude, be careful!" One of the mentors, Adam I think, stopped me before I could touch it. "You can really hurt yourself with that. Those weights are like a hundred pounds a piece."

I laughed a little at that. "You probably never heard of it, but I've got a little something called super-strength." I told him, smirking as I bent down and lifted the bar above my head.

"AWESOME!" Adam grinned as I did a couple of reps. "What else can you do?"

I grinned, glad that I was able to impress the mentor so much. Maybe he could show me where the burger bar was later... "Well, I'm the only student in the whole school who can do this." I directed my hands at the ground and levitated myself into the air.

"Whoa. Dude, can you fly?" Adam grinned as I lowered myself to the ground.

"Technically, it's called levitation. Look it up, bro." I advised. "I had to."

"Either way, we're going to have a blast together." Adam grinned. "What's your name?"

"Didn't get one yet." I knew that a few of the mentors were going around, assigning 'people names' to the other students, but no one had gotten to me yet. "I was thinking 'Theodore'."

Adam frowned and shook his head. "Nah, you need something more sophisticated and distinguished. A complex name for a man." He paused for a second, then smiled. "I'm going to call you Bob."

"I like it!" It rolled off the tongue nicely, and 'Theodore' did sound a little...ugh. I high-fived Adam, grinning. Then something occurred to me. "Wait, how do you spell that?"

Instead of telling me, Adam grinned. "You and I are going to get along just fine."

**2016**

"Alright, now the food goes over there!" I announced, gesturing to a the tables that Kieran and Rio had set up. A few of the students that were my age, Amy and Jake, started carrying the bowls of taco salad (a Katherine specialty) and pasta over to them. "And remember, we still have three dozen pizzas, four soda fountains, and eight boxes of cupcakes to fit on there too."

"I've got Charles and Henry bringing the dishes and glasses from the kitchen onto that table." Spin appeared next to me and pointed at the nearest table. "And Taylor and Logan are working on making an awesome playlist."

"What about guests?" I questioned, wanting to make this party awesome. This was the first time the mentors had left us alone on the island for a long period of time, and since it was probably never going to happen again, we were taking advantage of the situation.

"Well, I got this mainlander's numb'r of o' Kieran's phone. 'Er name's Rebeccka and she's an ole friend of Calla's, so I told 'er to invite all o' 'er friends. She's got a lot." Katherine smirked, carrying one of the boxes of cupcakes into the room.

"Wait, Rebeccka? You called Kieran's ex?" Spin asked, eyes wide and a grin appearing on his face.

"Did I?" Katherine asked, smiling to prove that she had definitely done it on purpose. "Oops."

"This is going to be awesome." I grinned.

"What's going to be awesome?" We all stopped suddenly, then slowly turned around to see Adam standing in the entrance way, Calla in front of him. I'd have expected her to be annoyed with us, but she was just standing there, staring at nothing.

"Uh...I thought you guys were on Davenportia for two weeks?" I said slowly.

"Hey, guys, you won't guess what I found in Calla's...shit." Kieran stopped as soon as he came into the room, swiftly hiding something behind his back. "Hi guys."

"Hi Kieran. Are you guys throwing a party?" Adam grinned, looking around at the decorations. We all exchanged looks, still confused why we weren't getting in trouble for this yet.

"Yeah...what's wrong with her?" Kieran asked, nodding at Calla.

"Oh, she got Triton App-ed." He explained.

"Oh, thank God." Kieran breathed a huge sigh of relief. Adam looked at us, grinned, then glanced over his shoulder.

"Okay, so, can't believe you guys were going to throw a party without me." Adam shook his head in disappointment. "Alright, um...here's what we're going to do. You," he pointed at Katherine, "call everyone you invited, tell them to go to the mansion. Trust me, no one's going back there tonight. Spin, have everything moved there by geoleaping. Bob, I'm going to close this door to keep anyone else from seeing anything, but it's your job to keep them distracted if they come in. Got it?"

"Got it." I nodded. Kieran glanced behind his back at whatever it was he had stolen from Calla's room.

"Hey, is Mr. Davenport Triton App-ed too? Because we may have raided the bedrooms a little bit..." He trailed off. Adam nodded.

"Yeah, you have about thirty minutes until they're all back to normal. So I suggest you bring that," he gestured vaguely at Kieran, "back to her room before she realizes it's gone."

"Understood." Kieran nodded and slowly backed out of the room. Adam looked around and nodded appraisingly.

"Exactly what I would have done." He told me, pride in his voice before pushing Calla back out the door and closing it behind him. I turned around just as Amy and Jake came back with some of the cupcake boxes.

"Okay guys, slight change in plans..."

**2017**

"Hey, boys!" Chase, Spin, and I were in the middle of creating our plan for winning when Dani, one of Chase's teammates, called us over.

"Hey guys." Bree smiled as we walked over to her, Calla, Dani, and this mystery girl. The girl was fairly pretty, and my age, with dark skin and curly, black hair pinned up in pigtails. "Say hello to Zoe. You know, she really wants to win the mini Olympics, but since you guys are playing unfair, she needs a little help. So we're going to coach her."

"You are?" Spin questioned, a little surprised that the girls would go up against us with some stranger.

"Yep. Since you're using your bionics," Dani smirked, "we're going to use our abilities to make sure that you don't win."

"Isn't that right, Zoe?" Rio asked as she too smirked at us.

"I don't even know you guys." Zoe pointed out, confused. "I'm supposed to be doing this with my dad. They just dragged me over here." When she pointed accusingly at Calla and Bree, I wasn't surprised - those two could get seriously competitive. It was part of the reason why Davenport had to approve what games they were allowed to pick for game night at the Academy back when they were still living there.

"Well, you wanna win, right?" Calla asked, bending down a little so that she was at Zoe's eye level. Zoe nodded. "Then I say we show them some serious girl power."

"Okay." Zoe seemed to like that. She turned to me, grinning widely. "I'm going to kick your butt."

I gulped nervously. Not only was she kinda turning me on right now, she was also kinda scaring me too. "Chase, I'm nervous. Girl power scares me."

**2022**

I bounced up and down on my heels nervously, waiting at the door. I checked my watch again before ringing the doorbell, wanting to double check that I wasn't so early that it was weird. I adjusted my grip on the flowers that Rio and Taylor had helped me pick out, feeling a little sweaty in my jacket. I looked all professional and stuff, nothing like I was used to, but I was trying to make a good impression after all.

"Hi." Zoe smiled, opening the door. She looked...so amazing in that purple dress of hers. She sat down on her stairs, pulling on her shoes. "You look nervous."

"I've never met a girl's parents before. Well, yeah, I have, but not like my girlfriend's." I admitted, rubbing the back of my head.

"You'll do fine." She promised me, strapping on her other shoe.

"I got these for your mom." I mentioned. Zoe smiled and stood up, kissing me before stepping out of the apartment and locking the door.

"They're going to love you." She promised me before grabbing my hand and leading me towards the car.


	9. Spin Krane

**2016**

I looked around our new school, and there was one thing that stood out to me. I was the smallest person here. In fact, I might have even been the youngest person here too. I didn't like that – it made me stand out, and if I was going to stand out, I wanted it to be for something impressive, not something like this. I could tell right now that there would be a lot of runt-of-the-little jokes made at my expense, and that was the last thing I wanted.

My height and age, I couldn't change. I knew that. So, I guess I was going to have to find a way to impress people, and fast. I looked around, trying to think of ideas when I saw most of the mentors gathered around another student. Oh, maybe if I went to talk to one of them, they would agree to give me some extra training or something. Then I could outdo all the other students and they'd have to respect me.

"I'm a beginner?" The student they were talking to demanded, sounding annoyed.

"Don't worry. I'm a beginner too." I told him, trying to be helpful. Maybe if we were in the same boat, he'd want to train with me or something. The guy turned around, then looked down at me, eyes wide, before turning back to the mentors.

"I'm on the same level as him? He's tiny." He complained. I scowled, not liking how quickly I'd proven myself right about how people would see my size.

"I'm young. What's your excuse?" I retorted. I turned and left before giving him a chance to respond, instead heading over to one of the other mentors, Calla. She was talking to a group of the students, explaining a little bit about how things worked. She glanced up as I sat down next to her, but didn't specifically address me as she continued to talk.

"So, you're going to have a mix of what we're calling bionic classes and normal classes. Bionic classes will focus on things you need to know for missions - fighting, strategizing, first aid - you get it. Normal classes are going to be the more mundane stuff like science, math, and home ec. stuff." She was saying.

"Why do we have to have normal classes? Why can't we just have the cool ones?" One of the students complained.

"Because they might come in handy on missions. Or, you know, in life?" A second student commented. Calla smirked a little.

"Mr. Davenport, Chase, and I went over what classes need to be in the curriculum, and I promise that they're all important. You are free to ask whichever mentor is teaching you why that is, though." She added. She looked up suddenly as her name was called.

"Alright guys, this way." She led us into a large circular room, where all the other students were gathering. I quickly pushed myself to front, not wanting to miss anything, and ended up right next to that rude student from before, and the student who'd insisted the normal classes were important.

"Hello and welcome to the world's first Davenport Bionic Academy!" Mr. Davenport, the guy in charge, announced. We all started to clap.

"Hey, when I do I get to throttle people?" I called, wondering when those fighting classes were going to start. I was curious when those fighting classes were going to start - if I managed to kick the butt of one of the bigger guys in the first class, people would have to take me seriously.

"Hey! We don't throttle people, Mighty Mouse." The rude student snapped, pulling me backwards.

"Leo's right." Mr. Davenport agreed, giving me a name for the rude student. "You're not soldiers, you're students. Now, I know you've had it rough and you're still adjusting to the outside world, but we're here to help. You see, this facility is here so you can train your bionics in a safe space and develop into the heroes you see before me." Three of the mentors, Adam, Bree, and Chase, stepped forward while Calla handed Mr. Davenport a tablet. "But first, it's time to get rid of your soldier numbers and give you all real names."

I grinned, having already came up with my own name. "Z-12, you are not Donald Junior. D-32, you are Donald the Third. D-64, Donna. V-41, Donatella. I-44, Donaldina. S-50-"

"I don't want to be a Donald!" I called before he could give me a bad name. "I already gave myself a name. Spin."

That earned a couple of chuckles from the crowd, but I didn't care. I liked the name 'Spin'. "That's not really a name. Why do you want to be called 'Spin'?" Mr. Davenport looked confused. I grinned, glad for a chance to show off.

"'Cause I can do this." I spun around, turning so fast that I looked like a miniature tornado. I stopped myself after I was sure everyone had seen how cool my abilities were and grinned at the mentors.

"Alright. You're Spin. I did not even know you could do that." Mr. Davenport nodded, impressed. "You know what? Forget yellow. You just moved up to green."

"Yes!" I beamed, excited. Now that I'd proven myself, no one could pretend that my age or height would make me a lesser student. They'd have to show me some respect now.

**2016**

"Ow!" I complained as I fell once more, this time landing on my tailbone. Bree sighed and bent down.

"You okay?" She asked, her tone patient. I let out a noise of irritation.

"I can't do this." I complained. She nodded.

"Yeah, you can, Spin. It just takes some practice." She insisted. I shook my head.

"It's impossible." I argued. She stood up and offered me her hand. I accepted it and she pulled me to my feet.

"Spin, you can do this, you just need to focus." She told me. She stepped back a few steps. "Alright. Watch me again, okay?"

I crossed my arms as she stepped into a horse fighting stance. "First, you twist and push off the ground, like doing a twirl midair. Then, when you jump, you need to kick your back leg out and let the momentum from your spin push that foot into your target. With your rapid gyration, you should be able to do this easily." She then showed me what she'd told me to do, executing a perfect jumping spin kick into a non-existent target.

"Yeah, I know all that." I rolled my eyes, then did the same as her. I did the move almost as well, but as I was unable to jump as high as her, my kick fell way too low. "But I don't have enough time to spin."

"Yes, you do. You're just overthinking it." She told me. "You are fast enough to use your spin properly, but because it's not a full spin, you've overthinking it."

"I'm not a speedster like you." I pointed out. These tactics may work for her group of speedsters, but they wouldn't work for me.

"You are a speedster, Spin, just in a different way." She told me. I rolled my eyes. "Spin, why'd you come to me for extra help if you were just going to give up?"

"I'm not giving up, I'm just..." She gave me a look and I sighed. "I'm sick and tired of being treated like I'm not good at this because I'm younger. The only one who has a lower level than me is Bob, Bree. BOB."

She sighed. "Spin, no one cares that you're young-"

"No, you don't care that I'm young. You and the other mentors don't, but a lot of the students don't want to end up working with the kid. I need to prove that they don't have anything to worry about." I shrugged. "And besides, I kinda want to learn."

"Well, first of all, you don't have anything to prove. You may have your disadvantages, sure, but you're improving far faster than any other student here. People have noticed that." She promised me. I nodded slowly. "Spin, I guarantee you, one day you're going to be mission leader. You just need to have patience in the meantime, okay?"

I sighed, then nodded. I guess what she said made sense.

"Alright." I agreed. I took a deep, calming breath - Calla had suggested doing that when she mentioned that I had slight aggression issues - then looked at Bree. "Can you show me again?"

**2023**

"Alright, here we go." I took a breath as we reached the top of the cliff. Looking down, it was easy to see why they'd called for bionic assistance - a car had gone through the railing and off the side of the cliff, the people inside only still alive thanks to the large rock jutting out of the side of the cliff that had gotten caught in the car's wheel. It was keeping the car trapped on the side of cliff for now, but it wouldn't last very much longer. I was surprised that it had lasted this long.

"What's the plan?" Ian questioned, kneeling down the edge of the cliff. I hesitated, then tapped my comm to activate it.

"AJ, how're they looking?" I asked. Leo had recently assigned him as my team's analyst.

 _"There's three of them in there - one kid, a woman, and the driver, a man."_  AJ told us. I heard him pause, likely getting the satellite feed up of the image.  _"Guys, you need to be careful. They're barely holding on by a thread, and any added weight risks the chance of that rock crumbling."_

"Thanks for the pep talk, Henigs." Matilda grumbled.

"Hey, it's important information." I told her sternly before looking down at the car. "Okay, here's the plan. Mattie, you're going to geoleap to the base of the cliff. You see that little cave down there?" I pointed towards a small opening to a cavern, a hundred yards from the car. She nodded. "Good, once you're down there, I'm going to need you to use your magnetism app to keep the car as steady as you can. I know it's not powerful enough to move the car, but we're going to need the extra stability. Ian, you and I are going to scale the cliff, get into the car, and geoleap them out of there. Understand?"

"Why not just geoleap in there and then out again? It'd be quicker." Ian pointed out.

 _"Because suddenly adding the extra weight is a lot worse than it slowly being eased in when you guys climb into the car."_  AJ pointed out before I could.

"Exactly. Let's go." I told them before slowly, carefully climbing down the steep cliff.

**xxx**

"Hey, nice job today, man." I mentioned, poking my head into the former classroom that had been converted into an office room for all the mission analysts to use. AJ was just packing up his work section when I got there.

"I should be saying that to you. Your first mission as mission leader was a success." The curly-haired guy replied, giving me a grin. "You should go celebrate or something."

"That's why I'm here - the others and I are all going to grab a bite at Jones' Pizzeria. You in?"

"Uh...I don't know. I told Calla and Chase I'd geoleap home afterwards..." He trailed off, one hand rubbing the arm above his geoleap watch. I shrug.

"Just text them from the car. I'm sure they'll understand if you crash here tonight." I told him. He hesitated a second more, then nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Sounds fun." He agreed, shouldering his bag. I held the door open, then grinned to myself and followed him towards the hydroloop.

**2024**

"I can't believe that this is what you do all day." I commented, leaning back in my chair while balancing a pen between my lip and my nose. "This is boring."

"First of all, you're not doing anything, and second of all, this isn't ALL I do. I do a lot of lab stuff, but I still gotta fill out all of Calla's extra paperwork." AJ reasoned.

"I thought being a lab assistant was fun. This is boring." I repeated myself. He gave me a look. "You can't tell me you find paperwork fun?"

"No, but she does most of it herself. I just do the extra, and like I said, I spend most of my time in the lab." AJ insisted. He turned back to his paper. "I thought you were heading back to Mission Creek tonight?"

"I was thinking of maybe spending another night." I mentioned, shrugging. I sat up in my seat.

"Why?" AJ frowned. I sighed, watching him do his work.

"Just don't feel like going home yet. Bob's snoring is bad again." I replied, pushing my chair back so that I was right next to him, no longer facing his back. AJ chuckled a little, shaking his head.

"He's why I got you those earplugs for your birthday." He mentioned. I leaned over on the arm of the chair.

"Yeah, I lost those." I admitted. AJ shook his head again, then glanced at the clock.

"Oh, man, is it seven already?" He asked, surprised. He always lost track of time when he worked - a bad habit he'd picked up from Chase and Calla over the years. "Uh, well, if you're going to stay the night, do you wanna go grab some dinner? I know this place around the corner that-"

The moment he turned his face towards me, I made my move, leaning into to press my lips against mine. I felt his hand move up my arm as he kissed me back, not pulling away until we were both breathless.


	10. Jordan Zuehlsdorff

**2008**

I bounced on my heels nervously, staring at the chaotic classroom in front of me. First days of school were always bad, but it was even worse when you were coming into the school in the middle of the year because your dad moved you to another state.

All of these kids had been going to school together since Kindergarten. It wasn't that I was particularly interested in making friends, but it would be really lonely if I had to go without one person to talk to until we switched to the middle school down the road.

"Ah, Jordan!" The teacher, an overly peppy, middle-aged woman, ushered me into the classroom. "Class! Can I have your attention please?"

The class quieted down at her voice, all the students turning to face the front. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to our new student, Jordan Zuehlsdorff. Jordan, do you want to tell everyone about yourself?"

"Uh..." I trailed off, not really knowing what to say. "Not really?"

That earned a few laughs from the other kids, but the teacher didn't seem to like it. "Why don't you go take a seat, Jordan?" She suggested. "There's a spot between Oliver and Danica."

"It's Dani!" A black-haired boy called as I went to take my seat, though the teacher ignored him. The brown-haired boy in front of me sent me a smile as I sat down. I quickly dropped my backpack next to my seat and pulled out a pencil and my superhero-themed notebook, though I had no intention of actually taking notes.

The teacher began her lesson plan almost right away. I sat there, dozing off as she went over basic grammar, only to be jolted awake by a crumpled piece of paper hitting me from behind. I turned to give the blonde-haired girl a look, but she just gestured at the paper.

Rolling my eyes, I turned around and started to uncrumple the paper. I expected it to be some weird question about the new girl, or some vague comment about how my clothes weren't girly enough - I'd gotten both of those before - but to my surprise, it was something completely different.

'I love your notebook! Tecton is my FAVORITE superhero! Wanna have lunch with us?' it read in messily scrawled handwriting. I smiled to myself, then ripped a page out of my notebook.

'OK' I wrote back, trying to keep my handwriting neat. Dad had said that only doctors were allowed to have bad handwriting. 'Wanna be friends too?'

I waited until the teacher was turned before tossing it over my back. I glanced over my shoulder to see the girl, Dani, showing my note to the black-haired boy from before. These considered it for a moment before they both beamed and gave me the thumbs up.

Huh, I guess making friends wouldn't be so bad at this school.

**2015**

I stared at the screen in concentration, trying to focus solely on my goal. I could see the beautiful unicorn just behind a tree, it's rainbow tail and mane standing out in the forest background even more so than its white coat.

"Hey Jordan." Dani greeted, walking over to me.

"Shh." I shushed her quickly, not wanting to get distracted. "I'm trailing this majestic unicorn. It's the last one in the entire land."

"Sounds lame." Dani commented just as I got within range. I had my character pull out Bertha, her trusty axe, and took a moment to appreciate the hard work that had led me to this moment before having her bring the axe down on the unicorn's neck.

"Boom!" I shouted gleefully. "Cut off its head!"

"Okay, now I'm interested." Dani had been about to walk away, but instead came even closer when she realized what I'd been trying to do all along. "Aw, look! Its blood is made of rainbows!"

"Look, Jordan, we have to talk to you about our robot project for science day tomorrow."

"Yeah, the four of us are working on it, right?" I checked, wanting to make sure that Oliver hadn't been recruited last minute by another group. Dani, Kaz, and I were okay with just getting average grades, but Oliver was a stickler for getting those As, so it always genuinely surprised me when he agreed to do projects with us. Not that I complained - I always tended to do slightly better with him in our group. And this was one of the few times that I really needed to do well.

"Yep, it will be just the four of us." Oliver agreed, much to my relief. "You, me, Kaz, and Dani...and Gus."

"What?" I turned on them faster than I'd removed that unicorn's head, staring at them with wide eyes. Gus Isaacs? "Gus? No, no, no! Absolutely not!"

"We're sorry, but he is our friend." Oliver reasoned. I shook my head, still hating this. Just because that weirdo was their friend didn't mean he was mine.

"Besides, we kinda felt bad for him because no one else wanted him in their group." Dani added, shoving her hands in her pockets.

"Yeah, for the same reason no one wants a dead fish in their bed. They both smell like dead fish!" I reminded them.

"We'll make him wear an air freshener?" Dani offered. I rolled my eyes.

"Look, if I don't get an A on this project, my parents won't let me play video games for a year." I mean, I seriously doubted that they'd go through with that threat for more than a month, but that wasn't the point. "And if I can't chop of unicorn heads then…who am I?"

"We promise you, we'll keep Gus under control. He won't say a word." Oliver promised me. I sighed, hating the idea a little less, but still not totally okay with it. Dani and Kaz, though, seemed to find an issue with the idea.

"Really, where are we going to get a muzzle?" Kaz questioned as he and Dani stared at Oliver.

"Fine." I agreed reluctantly. "Just keep him away from me."

"Now we have to get a leash?" Dani demanded.

"This is becoming a nightmare!" Kaz complained. Oliver gave them both a look, telling them to stop before turning back to me.

"We'll take care of it." He assured me. I nodded and turned back to my video game, now three times as stressed as I had been before talking to them. They'd better come through for me, I thought to myself, or it wouldn't be unicorns I was decapitating.

**2017**

"Are you kidding me? Nine bucks?" I demanded, staring at the price tag that had been hurriedly added to the front of the comic book. I looked over at Gary, one of the idiots that Gus had hired to run the store when he was too busy. "This is a joke, right?"

"I'm not in charge of price changes. Talk to Gus." He replied, turning the page of the comic he was currently reading.

"I would if he weren't in Tahiti on vacation." I grumbled, putting the comic book back. I stared at the selection, wondering if any of these were actually priced at a normal price or if I should just wait until Gus got back from vacation so I could yell at him.

"I wouldn't bother." I called over my shoulder when I heard the door chime announce that another customer had walked in. "Everything here is a rip off."

"I guess it's a good thing I own the place, then." I spun around to see Barry Clarke standing in the doorway, a duffle bag tossed over his shoulder.

"Oh my God." I laughed in surprise. It had been nearly a year since I'd last seen him in person - texting and emails just weren't the same - and God, did he look good. Well, no, he didn't - actually, if that almost faded black eye was anything to go by, he'd been in some sort of fight - but I still felt my heart do a double-take when I saw him.

There had been something going on between us when he left. I wasn't sure what it was, and we'd never actually done anything about it, but I was sure that I hadn't been imagining that chemistry.

"Is Gus ramping up the prices for fun again?" Barry questioned, dropping his bag by the door and walking past me to take a look at the prices.

"I thought you were in Chicago, working with an old friend of yours." He'd been rather vague about the new job opportunity when he left.

"New York, now, actually, and yeah, I was." He turned to me, a smile on his face. "I had some time off, and thought I'd come home."

"Did your time off have anything to do with this?" I questioned, poking his cheek just under the black eye. He winced, pulling away. "What kind of job do you have?"

"Oh, I'm secretly a superhero and I got this fighting crime." He told me. I nodded, amused at his story.

"Fine. Don't tell me." I rolled my eyes. He laughed at that, a genuine happy sound. "I just hope the other guy looks worse."

"Absolutely." He assured me. I laughed a little at how earnest he looked right now.

"So, how long are you in town for?" I inquired, curious. I thought, maybe, we could go do something together if he was in town for a while.

"Well, it depends." He shrugged.

"On what?" I frowned, and he looked at me imploringly.

"On how long you want me to." He told me. I opened my mouth to respond, but nothing would come out. "C'mon, Jordan. You like me, I like you. Let's stop dancing around this thing and make it official."

Finally, I find my voice. "What are you proposing?" I asked softly, wanting to make sure I wasn't mistaking his words.

"Dinner. And then...we'll see." He offered, watching me carefully for my response. A slow smile came to my face as I thought about it.

"I guess we will." I agreed.

**2021**

"This is awesome." I grinned, dropping a box full of comic books onto my new desk. When Alivia had asked me to join the team as a comic book consultant, I'd figured I was lucky to get my own room. I certainly hadn't expected her to give me my own office.

"Yeah it is." Barry agreed, placing down one of my boxes by the door. "You know Oliver, Kaz, and Dani didn't get their own offices until Mighty Med 2.0., and even now, Kaz and Dani share?" He mentioned. He paused. "Though, they probably don't mind."

"Glad to see I'm moving up the ranks faster than they are." I grinned, moving a couple of the boxes that Barry and my new teammates, Liam and Ricky, had brought in so that they were up against the bookshelf. I would put those away later, when I had some actual time to organize them in whatever way I wanted. "I still can't believe Geminus invited me to be on the team. This is going to be fun."

"You know...it's not always fun. It can be dangerous." Ah, here it was. I'd been expecting Barry to try and warn me about this for some time now. "Kaz and the twins all ended up being patients more than once before getting their powers. I don't want you thinking that this will be all fun and games."

"I know, okay?" I turned to him. "Alivia already went through all of this with me, and she got Crossbow to agree to train me in self-defense. It's going to be crazy and dangerous sometimes, but it's so going to be worth it."

"Yeah, I didn't think I'd have a chance in hell of changing your mind." Barry admitted. I laughed.

"You're right, you didn't." I agreed. "But it's cute that you tried."

He chuckled, then bent down to start unpacking the boxes. I followed suit, opening the box nearest to me. I smiled when I saw what I'd put on top: a picture of my middle school graduation. There'd been photos of my graduation from high school, but I loved this one more. Kaz, Dani, and Oliver had all dropped out of high school the year before graduation, and so it was the last important photo of all of us together.

I set it on the desk, right next to my favorite picture of me and Liam, smiling because I knew that there'd be more pictures to come in the future.


	11. Katherine Krane

**2016**

I frowned to myself, a little annoyed to find the kitchen drawers such a mess. It couldn't have been Jaden - as opposed to his sister, who claimed that clutter helped her think, he was meticulous about keeping the kitchen clean when we finished making dinner.

Suddenly, someone from behind me cleared their throat, and I stood up straight, abandoning my search through the drawers. "Katherine, what are you doing? Students aren't allowed back here."

Oh, really? Leo Dooley was going to tell me where I could and couldn't go? "Last I checked, you were a student too." I declared, turning around and crossing my arms. "Now, ain't that a little hypocritical of you?"

"I'm getting ketchup, with Jaden's permission." He pointed out. I nodded thoughtfully, having noticed that Spin and Bob had stolen a couple of ketchup bottles from the dining area.

"Fair enough." I agreed. He looked at me, waiting for my own explanation. "Well, Jaden hired me to be his cooking assistant, and I was lookin' for a fork." I explained, pulling one out of the messy drawer.

"What happened to the original one?" He asked, sounding confused.

"Spin and Bob." I explained, rolling my eyes. "But I didn't ask what they were up to."

"Didn't want to get in trouble?" He asked.

"Didn't wanna waste my time." I replied, smirking a little. "I can get in enough trouble on my own, thank you very much."

Leo smiled at that, genuinely amused. "Have fun with that." He commented, grabbing a bottle of ketchup off the shelf where Jaden and I kept all the extra condiments.

"Say, where are the mentors? Calla and her boy, Chase, I mean." I asked curiously. I hadn't seen them all day, which was unusually, because they usually grabbed a late lunch together around 3 unless one of them was teaching. "Heard they're on a date."

"Yeah, some street festival back in Mission Creek." Leo shrugged, leaning against the door frame. "Chase usually isn't into that kind of stuff, but Calla loves it. Food stands, art sales, jewelry, a horse show, a concert…"

"There's a horse shoe? At this street festival?" I asked sharply, surprised and intrigued by the idea. I'd seen videos of horse competitions online, and I had to say, they were incredible creatures. Beautiful too. I'd love to see one up close, but there was no way anyone would bring one to the island.

Maybe if the horses couldn't come to me, I could go to the horses.

"Yeah, it's actually pretty cool. They'll have fun." Leo replied. I nodded, already lost in my thoughts. "Well, I'll see you around, Katherine."

"See ya." I replied, walking back to my table. Rio and S-1 were just getting up as I sat down. I waited until they were out of earshot - they may not be the teacher's pets that Kieran was, but they'd probably rat me out for my plan in an instant - then leaned in close to Logan. "Hey. You up for a little adventure tonight?"

**2016**

"Well, I don't see why this ain't an appropriate Christmas gift." I complained as Leo followed me into the kitchen.

"Really?" Leo lunged forward, pulling the shirt I'd planned to give Kieran for Christmas out from under my arm. He held it up, so that I could clearly see the words that were printed in red on the green T-Shirt. "'Number One Teacher's Pet'." He read. I smirked. "You really don't get why he wouldn't want this shirt?"

"It's red and green; it's festive." I pointed out. Leo sighed.

"This is why Calla asked me to check in with you once she found out that you were Kieran's Secret Santa." He muttered to himself before looking at me in exasperation. "Kath, he doesn't like being called a teacher's pet."

"It's a term of endearment." I insisted. I could see him trying to hold back a laugh. "I'm still gonna to give it ta him, no matter what anyone else says."

"Fine, but can you get him a real gift too?" Leo asked. I looked at him, then at the cupboard full of the baking supplies.

"Fine, but only if you help me with inventory. Jaden wants to know how much more supplies he'll need for the Christmas cookies."

"Alright. Then we'll look at more gift ideas." He agreed. We both grabbed a door to the cupboard and opened it at the same time. However, when the doors swung open, they revealed a small, leafy plant hanging from a string at the top, three little red berries visible from underneath.

"What's that?" I asked. Leo looked at me, surprised.

"You don't know what mistletoe is?" He questioned, confused. I shook my head. "It's a Christmas plant. Jaden must have put it up for Bree?"

"Why would she want it up?" I asked. Leo stepped closer to me, so that we were both standing right underneath the plant.

"Well, if two people are standing underneath it, they're supposed to kiss." He explained, one hand moving for my arm.

"Like this?" I inquired, grabbing him by the front of his new mentor's uniform and kissing him. I felt his hands wrap around my waist, keeping me close as we kissed.

Eventually, I'd tell him that I was the one who put the mistletoe up, after Adam explained it's use to us. But for now, why not enjoy the moment?

**2021**

"I can't believe this is happening." I muttered, my face in my hands.

"I mean, it's not so bad." My boyfriend reasoned from where he was sitting next to me. I made a noise that made it very clear that I disagreed, and he sighed. "We can make it work, Kath."

"We?" I repeated. "You're not the one who's pregnant, Leo."

"It's still my kid...right?" At those words, I looked up and sent him as cold a glare as I could manage. "I'm kidding. Of course I know it's mine."

"Oh god, I'm not ready to be a mom." I muttered, burying my face in my hands again. "We can barely manage bionic craziness. Can we really manage a baby on top of that?"

"We can figure it out." Leo insisted. I moaned. How could he be so calm about this? I was on the verge of completely freaking out. I'd had this whole thing figured out. I could handle leading missions, and dating Leo. I could even handle the occasional attack on the island, or our friends going missing for nearly eight months. But a baby? That had never been part of the plan.

"What are we gonna do, Leo?" I murmured. He frowned, looking at his hands.

"Get married." He suggested. I rolled my eyes.

"Be serious, Leo." I told him. He looked at me.

"I am. Let's get married, have a kid. Figure this out." He insisted.

"We've never even talked about marriage." I told him. He shrugged. "No."

"You don't want to marry me?" He asked softly.

"That's not what I meant." I replied quickly.

"Then what, Katherine? Why not get married?" He demanded.

"I just don't wanna do it like this. I wanna get married because we're in love, and we're stupid enough ta try and do somethin' traditional with our relationship. But I don't wanna marry you if it's just 'cause I'm pregnant."

"You think that I'd only marry you because we're having a baby?" Leo stared at me for a long time before finally speaking again. "That's not why I want to marry you, Kath."

"Leo..." I sighed, but he wasn't stopping.

"My grandmother's ring is currently hidden in a pair of socks in our room. Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince her to give it to me? She's a very stubborn woman." I stared at him as he continued. "I was trying to figure out the right time to ask you, because yeah, I Wanted to marry you before I knew about the baby, but I hadn't figured out the right time yet. So, I guess I'm asking now."

"Leo..." I trailed off. He looked at me, an earnest look on his face.

"Marry me, Katherine." He told me, smiling a little. "Not because you're pregnant, but because I love you and you love me and that is the only thing I know for sure in this crazy world. And honestly, it's the only thing I care about."

I stared at him for a moment, completely caught off guard by his proposal. Then I nodded shakily. "Okay."

"Okay?" He repeated. I nodded, and he beamed. "Okay!"

"Come here." I told him, placing my hand on his leg. He leaned close and I kissed him. When he pulled away. "Let's do this. Let's get married."

**2026**

I held my breath a little as I closed the apartment door behind me, trying not to wake anyone up. It was way past midnight, and I figured that everyone else was asleep. The lights in the kitchen were off as I walked in, though I could see a tinfoil wrapped plate waiting for me with a sticky note on it.

'Thought you might be hungry' It read in Leo's tidy handwriting. I smiled at the note, then hefted my mission bag over my shoulder and headed for the bedroom, intending to drop it off and take a shower before eating.

However, once I reached the hallway, I realized that there was still one light on, and it wasn't the one in our bedroom. I carefully walked up to Charlotte's room, confused why the four-year-old would still be up, but couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the sight that awaited me inside.

Leo was passed out cold in our daughter's bed, with our little girl leaning against him as she colored in a notebook her aunt had gotten her for her birthday. Judging by the blue mustache and whiskers on his face, she hadn't only been coloring in the book either.

"Hi Mama." Charlotte smiled brightly at me, adjusting her legs so she was sitting cross-legged.

"You should be asleep." I told her, trying to be stern. She shrugged.

"Papa fell asleep before finishing my story." She held up her copy of The Three Little Pigs in one hand. She looked back at Leo and giggled. "I gave him a makeover, Mama."

"I can see that. He looks very...handsome." I smiled, then sighed and held out my hand. "C'mon."

"Where're we going?" She inquired, even as she eased herself out of the bed, careful not to wake her father. She grabbed my hand and followed me to my bedroom, her favorite stuffed unicorn tucked under one arm and the story book still in her hand.

"It looks like Papa's taken up most of the bed, so we can read your story in my room and you can sleep with me. That okay with you?" I asked. She nodded eagerly.

"Okay." She agreed. She looked at me. "Can I give you a makeover too?"

I had to stop myself from laughing at that. "Maybe another time, honey."


	12. Melody "Frostbite" Robins

**2017**

I stared at the piece of light blue fabric in my hands, biting my lip so hard that I briefly worried that I'd break through the skin. The dress I'd worn to my aunt's memorial was lying crumpled in the corner of my bedroom, and now I was staring at an outfit I knew my aunt would have loved to see me wear one day.

I'd always known that Aunt Sonia was in a dangerous line of work. We'd all known that one day, we'd get a call telling us that the worst possible scenario had happened. But I don't think any of us had expected it to happen like this. Not in such a big attack, not having to find out days after it happened by a Normo cop who'd made the ID.

A part of me just wanted to cry. Sonia had always been there for me, had even offered to train me as her sidekick once I turned 18 (she hadn't wanted to drag me into this while I was still a kid), but a bigger part of me was angry. That was the part of me that wanted revenge.

I'd dug through my closet, looking for some semblance of a uniform, and what I found would work perfectly. My favorite blue top, with a pair of matching boots and gloves that Sonia had given me for my birthday ("a superhero has to look the part, Mels", she'd told me).

She may have wanted me to wait a few more years, but things had changed. Someone had to stop the people who killed her. And becoming a superhero in her name was the best way I could think of to honor her.

**2017**

I'd been on my way to meet with Nyx when I first heard the sounds of a fight. Normally, I'd just walk away - Seattle wasn't the safest city in the world, and this part of the city was particularly bad for gang activity. As much as I'd like to stop people like that, I couldn't exactly take down Normos without giving up the superhero secret, and besides, I had bigger fish to fry at the moment.

But when I saw a blast of fire shoot into the sky. Okay, that didn't look like a gun shot.

As I got closer, I realized that it wasn't a Normo fight, but rather two of the Demon Brothers fighting a pair of archer superheroes. They weren't doing badly, either, but it was clear that the guy was still fairly new at this - while the girl was doing a fairly good job at watching her own back, he was too impulsive in his attacks, leaving his wide open to be hit. It wasn't his fault; I figured that, like me, he hadn't had much training before taking on the role, and experience was hard to get these days, when a mistake could get you killed.

I stuck to the shadows, having gotten familiar enough with the area to know where I could hide without being seen, and raised a hand. A cold, icy mist flew from my fingertips and charged at Blue Demon. He hadn't even noticed it, the mist so thin that it could easily be missed, before it slammed into him, knocking him out of the shadows. I pushed him hard with my powers, throwing him over the railing where he landed hard on the ground below. I froze him to the ground, unsure how quickly he would recover from the blow but wanting to make sure that he couldn't attack us again.

"You killed him!" White Demon, who'd been trapped by one of the archer's nets during the fight, shouted, finally noticing me. "What kind of hero kills?"

I stepped out of the shadows, revealing myself to the heroes. "He's fine." I told him coldly. "Now stop whining or you're next." I then turned to the archers. "Who the hell are you?"

"We could ask you the same question." The girl archer retorted, but I wasn't looking at her anymore. Because just behind her, more people were coming up, most of them wearing super uniforms. One was a tall, brown-haired guy in a blue suit with orange lines on it, another being a girl in a crimson uniform with elbow-length gloves. There was a shorter, slightly chubby guy in between them, wearing just a basic sweater vest and black pants, not exactly the most heroic look I've ever seen. And leading them was Geminus, the Irish sidekick famous for being assigned to protect the Normos Horace Diaz had brought into Mighty Med.

"I take it you guys go ambushed by one of the Demons too?" The brown-haired guy asked, noticing White Demon.

"Two. You?" The female archer questioned.

"We dealt with Crimson Demon. They had Matt Demon." He replied.

"Who is a lot tougher than you'd expect." The crimson-clad girl interjected, wiping at a cut on her lip before looking at me. "Who's this?"

"Melody Robins, AKA Frostbite." Geminus smiled before I could answer. I looked at her sharply, confused how she knew who I was. "We've been looking for you."

**2022**

"Alright, be honest, how do I look?" I questioned, looking at my reflection in the mirror.

"You look cute." Dani assured me from where she was sitting on my bed.

"If cute was what you were going for." Rani added, leaning against the doorframe.

"Dude." Dani snapped.

"What?" Rani responded, spreading her hands in a what-did-I-say motion. Why in the world did I ask them to help me with this?

"You look great. Alan's going to think so too." Dani insisted. "Blue's his favorite color. Right, Rani?" She looked pointedly at the witch, who nodded slowly.

"It's the only color sweater vest I've ever seen him wear." She replied, trying to be helpful. I smiled, smoothing the bottom of the lacy, dark blue dress. "But you know, if you're that desperate for a date, I know some people who'd be willing."

"And how many of them have criminal records?" Dani questioned before I could speak.

"I don't see why or how that's relevant." Rani stated, frowning at the electrokinetic.

"Guys." I stopped them before they could actually start an argument. "I want to go on a date with Alan. I like him."

"Why?" Rani wrinkled her nose in disgust. I shook my head, not bothering to answer her. I knew Alan could be rough around the edges at times - though he'd changed a lot since we first met, he still had a bit of a temper, and was still insistent that he would be the greatest hero on the team one day. But that ambition to be the best had worked in his favor, encouraging him to train more, learn more, and fight harder. He was determined to not just be the best, but to deserve that title, and frankly, I found that admirable, and it was my favorite thing about him.

"If you guys aren't going to help, I'm sure Alivia wouldn't mind someone taking over the night patrol." I mentioned.

"Not it." Dani said quickly, earning a glare from Rani. "Sucker."

"God, you two are children." I muttered, shaking my head. I sighed and grabbed my purse. "Alright, I'm leaving. Try not to kill each other before I get back."

"Have fun." Dani called as I left.

"Text me if it goes horribly!" Rani added. There was a moment of silence, then, "Ow! What was that for?"

**2034**

"This is adorable." I commented, handing Alan a cup of tea as I sat down across from him. He smirked a little, keeping an eye on Scarlet and Felix, who were hanging downstairs in the living area. Our daughter had set up her little tea set on the coffee table, and was currently trying to force a light blue tiara onto the older boy's head. When I'd brought the fifteen-year-old kid to the League, I don't think he'd had tea parties with seven-year-olds in mind, but he was handling it pretty well, playing along with Scarlet's princess fantasy. He'd only been here for two days, and yet my and Alan's daughter had already decided that he would be her new best friend.

"She's going to be disappointed when he leaves." Alan commented. I glanced at him.

"You already talked to your uncle?' I guessed. He nodded.

"Yeah. He's agreed to take Felix on at Mighty Med 2.0. when he's ready." He replied. I bit my lip a little, thinking. "What?"

"What if we keep him around a little while?" I suggested. He frowned. "I mean, there's plenty of room here."

"Scarlet could use a big brother figure." Alan mentioned.

"I thought that's what Kameron was for." I pointed out. He looked at me.

"A good big brother figure." He corrected himself.

"I thought that's what James is for." I redirected my response, and he couldn't help but snigger.

"He hates kids." He pointed out. He looked at me. "I'll talk to Uncle Horace about pushing off Felix's training if you talk to Geminus."

"Deal." I raised my teacup, smirking when he clinked his against mine.


	13. Angela "Crossbow" Connor

**2011**

"So, is it your first?" I looked up from my phone as Clone Master passed me by, heading for the vending machine.

"Excuse me?" I questioned, a little confused by the question. The Irish hero chuckled as he looked over the contents of the machine for a snack.

"Is it your first trainee?" He clarified. He glanced over at me. "They always have the newbies either take on a special assignment or work with a new trainee before officially making them a hero. And you're standing outside the office where they usually hand out assignments."

"Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's my first." I admitted. He nodded. "How come you're down here?"

"Diaz wants me to have a word with the Bennett kid; apparently, he keeps hitting on his trainers." He explained with a sigh. "This is why we should make them wait till they're older to do this."

"I'm only sixteen." I pointed out. He cocked his head to the side, acknowledging my comment before pulling out his wallet.

"Well, girls are more mature. Boys are idiots." He muttered, popping a couple of dollars into the machine and pressing a button.

"I bet you can't wait till your daughter starts dating." I mentioned, remembering that he had an eleven-year-old at home.

"I dread the day." He agreed, swiping a Mars bar from the machine. "So, who'd you get? Not Bennett?"

"No, some off-worlder." I frowned when he snorted in amusement. "What?"

"Nothing., just not an easy assignment for a beginner." He replied. I frowned, confused, so he explained. "Most of the time, they've been heroing on their own planet for a while, so they think they know everything. They don't realize that what works where they're from doesn't necessarily work here."

"Awesome." I commented sarcastically, just as the door to the office opened up. A young boy, no more than thirteen, walked out, hands in his pockets.

"He's all yours." Horace looked vaguely annoyed with the kid. Clone Master nodded.

"C'mon kid, we're going to go have a talk about how you speak to your instructors." He gestured to the hall and the kid sighed, trudging forwards. Clone Master glanced at me. "Good luck, Crossbow."

After he left, Horace ushered me inside, where an eleven-year-old girl was waiting impatiently. She was already wearing a super suit - a black and pink suit with a lightning bolt on the front.

"I don't get why I need to go through all this just to help people on this planet too." The girl commented, arms crossed. She looked all too serious for her age.

"It's protocol." Horace explained. He looked at me. "You've got this?"

"Totally." It couldn't be that hard, could it? He shrugged and left, leaving me alone with the kid.

"I don't need this." She told me. I nodded.

"Probably not, but according to the League, you're have to follow me around for three days, so they must think otherwise." I told her. I held out my hand. "My name's Angela."

"That's a terrible superhero name." She informed me. I had to stop myself from laughing.

"You're right, but it's an awesome human name. What's yours?" I questioned.

"Skylar Storm." She told me, hands on her hips, chin raised proudly. I nodded.

"Well, Skylar Storm," I repeated her full name, much to her pleasure, "does Caldera have soft pretzels?"

She shook her head, and I smiled. "Well, then that's the most important thing you experience about Earth. C'mon - I know a guy."

She frowned and started to follow me as I headed down the hall. "You're not going to make me do some boring training about how to work on Earth?"

"Experience will do far more for you than I ever could. You'll figure it out on your own. Besides, I'd hate to be boring." I reasoned. She nodded thoughtfully, clearly liking my plan. Then she grinned.

"I like you." She decided. I smirked.

"You're going to like me a lot more once you've tried that soft pretzel I was telling you about." I told her, grinning.

**2017**

People are so gross, I thought to myself as I shoved a dirty diaper into my garbage bag. There was literally a garbage can two feet away from me - why couldn't people learn to use it?

Groundskeeper hadn't been my first choice of employment. It hadn't even been my tenth choice. But when your only working experience since you were sixteen had to be kept a secret for both your and your employer's protection, it didn't leave you with many options.

I sighed, turning around to rake up more trash when I realized I wasn't alone. Well, I'd realized that a few minutes ago - an archer had to rely on their hearing as much as their sight - but it wasn't until now that I caught sight of the people in the park with me. I was in shock as I stared at the seventeen-year-old girl, face to face with one of my oldest superhero friends.

"Skylar?" The words escaped my lips before I could stop them, and I dropped my rake in shock.

"Crossbow!" She beamed at me, thrilled. I started towards her, wanting to hug her so badly, when I realized that I didn't know the guy besides her. He didn't look like a villain - he was far too scrawny to be a threat, in my opinion - but I couldn't be sure.

"Uh, no. I have never heard that name before. My name is Angela Connor, and I am a groundskeeper here at the Centium City Community Park." I stated. I internally cursed myself, knowing that it sounded far too robotic to even pass as the truth. But seeing Skylar again, seeing anyone from my old life again, had really shaken me.

"She's good." The scrawny boy said to Skylar. "That sounded real natural."

"It's okay, Crossbow." Skylar assured me before I could decide whether or not to pull out my weapon. "He's with me. He's a superhero too."

"Seriously?" I looked him over, skeptical. Were we really this desperate? "Are we just letting anybody in?"

"Pretty much, yeah." She agreed. I couldn't help but laugh as I pulled her into a tight hug. I could feel a weight lift off my shoulders as I held her tight, relieved that at least one of my friends were okay.

Eventually, we pulled away and sat down on a bench below the nearby tree. "I was so worried about you, Skylar. I wasn't sure if you made it out of Mighty Med alive, but judging by you sitting here, breathing and stuff, I guess you did."

"That's not the only surprise I have for you." She told me, grinning ear to ear. "I got my powers back."

"No way!" I stared at her, shocked but happy too. I'd known how crushed she'd been to lose hers. "How?"

"This amazing bionic guy named Chase." She told me. I smirked, remembering the news report on the Davenport Bionic Family.

"He's the cute one on TV, right?" I questioned.

"He's also engaged." She warned me. I shrugged, not able to be that disappointed after finding out that Skylar was okay.

"Oh well. More fish in the sea, I suppose." I shrugged. Skylar's friend stepped in then.

"Look, Crossbow, the people who destroyed Mighty Med are in Centium City, hunting down superheroes, including you." He informed me. I looked at him, surprised.

"You found the people who destroyed Mighty Med?" If he knew where they were, we could stop them. We could avenge the others, and those of us still alive wouldn't have to live in hiding anymore.

"Roman and Riker. Roddiseus' kids." Skylar explained as her friend handed me his phone, where he had a couple of photos of the two guys. They must be incredibly powerful, I realized, to have taken out the hospital all on their onw. "They're shapeshifters who can fuse together to form an incredibly powerful black swarm. So if you see them, don't try to fight them alone."

"Yeah, alright." As much as I wanted to kill these two for what they'd done, there was logic in waiting. Assuming that Skylar and her friend weren't the only survivors, we could join forces and take them down together. I couldn't imagine a better way to make the League proud.

**2017**

I couldn't help but smile as the two supervillains shouted at me, angrily tugging at the cuffs that kept them stuck to the sign outside of the police station. They'd be found by a cop or two soon enough, even sooner if they kept shouting those oh so lovely insults at me.

"Impressive." I snapped my head to the left at the sound of the foreign accent, surprised to see a red head in a dark green, sleeveless super suit waiting for me. "Two at once, that's pretty good for a hero without powers."

"I get by." I replied, relaxing now that I knew who I was dealing with. "Heard you were dead, Gem."

"Yeah, what's the saying?" She frowned.

"Tales of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Another voice answered. A blonde teenager, about Geminus' age, walked out of the shadows. He was wearing a crimson shirt, shoes, and mask, though he wasn't any hero I was familiar with.

"Yes, thank you, Arciere." Geminus replied. I frowned, looking between the two.

"So, you going to tell me why you're here, or do I win a prize if I guess?" I questioned, unsure what to make of them.

"We've been looking for you." Geminus told me.

"Yeah, guessed that. How'd you find me?" I inquired, leaning against the nearby wall.

"Skylar Storm told us where to look." Arciere answered, shrugging. I raised my chin, wondering how Skylar knew this guy. "She said you might be interested in joining us."

"In doing what? Getting revenge?" I questioned. "The Elite Force are handling the guys who destroyed Mighty Med."

"I know. And unless they tell me otherwise, I'm trusting them to finish the job." Geminus stepped fully out of the shadows. "I'm not talking about getting revenge for the people we lost. I'm talking about doing right by them."

"I'm listening." I told her. She nodded, and through her mask, I could see her eyes staring into mine imploringly.

"The League's gone, and this world needs protecting. My father, Tecton, the other heroes...they need someone to take up their mantle. They need us to be the heroes they were."

"You're talking about reforming the League." I realized. Alivia nodded. "How many have you got on board?"

"Three." Arciere replied. He paused. "Well, that's assuming you join."

"The three of us, against a world full of superheroes?" I stared at them.

"Sounds like fun, right?" Geminus questioned, smirking a little. I smiled back.

"Well, I've always liked a challenge." I answered.

**2036**

"Ow!" James complained as he fell flat on his back, the air rushing from his lungs. "That's cheating." He groaned as he slowly regained his breath. I looked down at him, hands on my hips.

"A sweep isn't cheating, and even if it was, you can't expect your opponents to fight fair." I told him before offering him a hand up. He accepted it graciously. "Now, what did you do wrong?"

"I agreed to train with you?" He tried. I rolled my eyes.

"Smartass." I told him, to which he grinned cheekily. I sighed and looked past him at the thirteen-year-olds who had decided to watch our training session. Might as well make use of the audience, right? "Any one of you want to tell him?"

"He was only watching your hands, and not his surroundings. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gotten served like that." Nyssa replied before either of the others could. She looked at me hopefully. "I can show him what he was supposed to do, if you want."

"You know the rules: no official training until you're fourteen." I reminded all of them, knowing fully well that all three kids had gathered here in hopes that I'd bend the rules for them.

"But my mom's already training me." She argued. "And I'm way better than James."

"Don't be a jerk." Kira smacked her friend in the shoulder, earning a glare from the blue-haired girl.

"What your mom does isn't my concern. But I'm not breaking Geminus' rules, not even for you three." I turned back to James. "You're doing fine, but Nyssa is right; you have to pay attention to your surroundings."

"I'm just not good at this like them." He grumbled, just loud enough to hear. I stopped, looking at him. "They've got powers, I don't. They were born ready to fight crime. I wasn't."

"I don't have powers. Neither does Arciere, who, by the way, was older than you are when he discovered that superheroes existed. And let's face it - Geminus' ability is to make more of herself, and that's more of a pain in the ass than an actual threat." He chuckled at that. "At the end of the day, it's your skillset that helps you stop the bad guys. For some of them, yeah, that means powers, but for others, that means hard work and determination. And whether or not they were born into this has no bearing on the situation. Understood?"

"Alright." James was never one to get discouraged for too long. He took a deep breath and stepped back into a fighting stance. I smiled, proud that my student was ready to get back on the horse so quickly. "Let's go again."


	14. Jessica Henderson

**2013**

"Hey, Cal!" I looked up from my phone as Kaitlin called the last member of our group of friends over to us as we headed for our usual table in the cafeteria. Calla grinned when she saw us, following quickly over us.

"What's up, girls?" She asked, placing her plate down on the table as we sat. She took a bite out of one of her breakfast burritos, and Rebeccka practically licked her lips.

"That's a good-looking burrito you've got...oh, thank you." Rebeccka beamed as Calla handed over the second burrito, as if Calla hadn't given her half her breakfast every day since the start of high school.

"Hey, did you finish the science homework for Mrs. James?" Kait asked. Calla rolled her eyes, smirking a little.

"Let me guess, you were too busy on your date to do it?" She teased. Kaitlin nodded, blushing. "I still can't believe you and Jay are going out. It's totally disgusting."

"Why?" Kaitlin asked.

"Because he's...well, he's Jaden, that's why!" Calla said, as if it explained everything. I smirked at the way she just expected us to be able to follow her line of thought. I started to speak up, to try and explain what Calla meant to Kaitlin, but before I could, a loud, piercing scream came from the lobby. Everyone in the room looked up at the sound, and Calla even stood up, alarmed.

"What was that?" I demanded. Calla glanced at me and smiled reassuringly.

"Probably some kid getting his pudding from Trent." She replied, shaking her head a little at the thought of the quarterback's favorite form of torture for the nerds. "I'm going to go check it out."

Before I could stop her - you never go towards the screaming, never - she headed for the lobby. I looked at the others. "Should we go after her?"

"Nah, she's probably right about it being Trent." Rebeccka mentioned as she reached over and grabbed the rest of Calla's burrito off her plate.

"You sure?" I asked, hesitant.

"Well, the screaming stopped." Kaitlin shrugged. I sighed and pulled out my phone, waiting. Sure enough, after a few minutes, Calla returned to the cafeteria, this time bringing a brown haired girl I'd never seen before with her.

"Alright, who ate my burrito?" Calla questioned instead of introducing her friends, hands on her hips.

"It was delicious." Rebeccka told her, licking away the crumbs on her lips. She looked at the girl. "And you are?"

The girl held her hand out to us, a grin on her face. "I'm Bree! I like ponies and girly things!" She declared.

"Cool! I like drama and pink things!" Rebeccka exclaimed in the same excited tone as Bree. I grinned; I could tell that Rebeccka was teasing her a little, but if Calla was bringing this girl into our friend group, it would be nice to have someone as peppy as I was.

"I'm Jessica! I like boys and pretty things!" I grinned, shaking her hand. Rebeccka, Bree, Calla, and I all started to laugh.

"I'm Kaitlin." Kaitlin added. "You new around here?"

"Bree's a friend of mine from out of town." Calla explained quickly. Bree sent her an odd look, but didn't say anything. "She and her brothers are visiting, and I thought we'd show her the school."

"Oh, cool. You have brothers?" I was always interested what it was like to have siblings, being an only child myself.

"Yeah, Adam and Chase. But they're total dweebs." Bree revealed. I smirked a little. Suddenly, the bell rang and I heard another scream.

"Okay, what is that?" I questioned, standing up. Calla and Bree exchanged looks.

"Our warning to head to class?" Calla suggested, as if she hadn't heard the scream.

"Alright smartass, we're coming." Kaitlin sighed. I rolled my eyes, putting the scream out of my mind, and grabbed my bag.

"C'mon." I told Bree, smiling. "We'll show you around."

**2020**

"This is...wrong." I murmured to myself, staring at the images on the screen in front of me. There were hundreds of photos on it, all from the past five years or so. Some were of dead bodies, others of the victims of a man calling himself 'Dr. Wrath', and so many more. None of them put these powered-people in a good light.

"They keep getting away with this." Graham muttered, shaking his head as he paced the tiny office we'd shared for the past three years. "They've got criminals like the Shore girl working with them, killers like that electro-whatever kid...and they said I was in the wrong for trying to contain them."

"Well, I mean, you were kind of an ass about it." I pointed out. Graham looked at me. "Just saying, boss."

"Maybe I wasn't all Mr. Rogers with them, but when it comes to people like this, people who can do this kind of damage without any supervision, you've got to be. They don't even have to carry permits for their weapons." He declared, clearly frustrated. "Someone's got to do something."

"The public sees them as heroes. You're going to have a hard time getting enough proof to convict them of anything." I pointed out. Graham looked at me.

"Do you not want to see them behind bars? I thought you wanted to help people, Henderson." He told me. I raised my chin, annoyed.

"Of course I do. And I agree, we can't stand by and let things like this just happen." I agreed, gesturing at the pictures of the bodies. It was one thing if the 'heroes' wanted to help people, but leaving bodies in their wake, no matter how bad those people had been, was not okay. "But we're not in a position to do anything about it."

"What if we were?" Graham asked me. Something in his tone stopped me - he didn't sound so frustrated anymore.

"What aren't you telling me?" I questioned. Graham glanced at the door, as if he expected someone to come bursting in at any moment, before sitting on his desk.

"There's this guy, Bosetti. He's got the resources, and the will to stop them. And he'd like our help." Graham paused. "Well, my help. But I told him you'd be more than capable of doing your part."

"Thanks?" It sounded like he meant that to be good, that he got me some job that I'd never heard of. "But I don't know...this sounds fishy, Graham."

"Relax, kid. It's all above board." He assured me. "And he's got a special assignment for you, if you're up for it."

"Depends on the assignment." I replied. Graham nodded, having expected that reply.

"Undercover. Nothing heavy." He promised. I nodded thoughtfully, considering it. "You in?"

I looked back at the photos, and made a decision.

Calla Davenport and Jaden Parker would be involved, I knew that. Knowing Graham, this specifically involved the Davenports. I generally liked them, but I knew that at least Bree and Chase had been involved in the Roddiseus incident. That they were friends with the children of a psychopath. They might have been my friends, but they were heading down a dark road, and they were completely without consequences for their actions. That couldn't happen. People would get hurt. People had already been hurt.

"Alright." I sighed softly. I nodded and looked at Graham. "I'm in."

**2022**

"Hey, they told me I'd find you here." I looked up from my notes to see Adam Davenport walk into the theatre we were planning on using for the coalition meeting. I smiled, then glanced back at my notes.

"You're early." I observed, glancing at my phone. He shrugged.

"Five-star hotel. Couldn't resist coming a day early." He explained.

"You live on a private island, and your dad is a millionaire." I told him. He frowned, not understanding how the two were connected. I nearly laughed. "Where's Rio?"

"She stayed home so she could be mad at Kieran in person." He replied, smirking a little.

"I still can't believe they eloped." I shook my head. Adam nodded.

"You should have seen everyone's faces when they made the announcement." He laughed. I smiled, glancing back at my notes. "So, where's Agent DeCook? I heard you guys were together."

"Working together." I corrected. Adam chuckled. "He's doing some last-minute training with the some of the new recruits. He'll be down here sometime tonight."

"Right." He replied. I hummed, switching to another paper in front of me. "You okay?"

"Fine." I replied. Adam snorted, and I looked at him. He raised an eyebrow. "I'm just nervous, I guess."

"Why?" He questioned. I stared at him.

"Adam, do you have any idea how big a deal this is? I'm pretty much starting the superhero United Nations." I told him. He nodded.

"Yeah, it's cool." He reasoned.

"No, it's terrifying. I have to give a speech in front of, like, fifty of the most influential people on the planet." I pointed out.

"You're great in front of a crowd." He pointed out. "Just don't overthink it."

"Easy for you to say." I muttered. He frowned. "Adam, no offense, but thinking isn't exactly your style."

"None taken. Chase thinks all the time, and he's always stressed. No thinking equals no stress." He told me, tapping the side of his head. I looked at him, an amused smile on my face. "Seriously, don't think. In fact..." He reached out and grabbed the papers from the podium out from under my hands. He pulled them out of my reach, refusing to return them when I reached for them.

"I need those." I told him. He shook his head.

"Stop thinking about it, and when it's your turn to speak, just say whatever you're feeling." He told me. I gave him a look.

"That's a terrible idea." I insisted.

"Is it?" He questioned, a teasing light in his eyes.

"It is." I insisted.

"Is it?" He asked again.

"Adam." I crossed my arms. He smirked.

"Do you feel that this is the right thing to do?" He asked instead of giving me back the papers.

"Of course, I do." I replied, frowning.

"Do you know what needs to get done?" He pressed.

"Yes." I replied. He nodded and tapped my shoulder with the papers.

"There you go. That's all you've got to say." He told me. I looked at him. "Chill out, Jess. Stop stressing about it. Just go up there, imagine your boyfriend in his boxers, and just say what you feel."

"He's not my boyfriend." I insisted. He frowned.

"You want to tell that to Bree? She's pretty insistent that you are." He told me. I sighed.

"I hate your sister some days." I muttered. He chuckled.

"Try being stuck in a basement with her for seventeen years." He told me, glancing at his phone as it buzzed. "I have to go. Chase just got in, and I've got a little...surprise to set up in his hotel room."

"Don't prank him too hard." I told him, already having an idea where this was going. He gave me a look.

"There's no such thing as pranking Chase too hard." He called over his shoulder as he headed for the door. He stopped in the doorway and smiled at me. "This is pretty cool, Jess. Try to freak out a little less and be a little more proud, okay?"

I looked at him for a moment, smiling. "Thanks Adam."

**2025**

"You know, you should probably take it easy." I rolled my eyes at the suggestion, having heard it from pretty much everyone.

"I'm fine." I told Calla, amused by her concern. She smirked a little, shaking her head.

"I'm just saying, it wouldn't hurt to take some time off. Just until she's born." My friend reasoned.

"You didn't." I pointed out. She opened her mouth to object, then, realizing I was right, shut it again. I laughed. "I'm fine, Calla. And it's not like I'm doing anything strenuous."

I sat down across from her on the observation balcony, one hand settling on my swollen stomach. "We picked a name."

"Yeah?" Calla asked, curiosity piqued.

"Rosemary." I mentioned. She smiled.

"Rosemary Calla DeCook. I like it." She grinned. I frowned.

"Um...I don't remember...her middle name is going to be Veronica, not Calla." I told her slowly. Calla rolled her eyes, smirking.

"It's okay. Keep it a surprise." She replied. I laughed a little.

"I see Chase's cockiness has rubbed off on you." I commented loudly.

"I heard that!" Calla and I both laughed as Chase's voice carried up from the floor below.

"You were meant to!" I shouted back, shaking my head as the bionic hero stepped back enough that we could see him from the observation balcony.

"Kick Miles' butt, babe!" Calla cupped her hands around her mouth, making sure he heard her. He smirked, then spun his plasma bo staff around.

"That's not happening." I leaned forward in my seat so I could see Miles as he addressed the group of agents that he was training to join S.H.I.R.T. "Instead, I'm going to show you guys a few ways to handle combat in which your opponent has some sort of weapon aside from a gun or blaster. Not everyone we handle will have powers or high tech, and often you'll find yourself in a situation like this."

"And I'm going to use Miles to show you ways not to handle combat like this." Chase added, still smirking.

"Hey," I said softly, glancing at Calla. "Ten bucks says Miles wins."

"Oh, you're so on." My friend retorted, grinning.


	15. Miles DeCook

**2017**

I made my way through the wreckage, absolutely disgusted with what I saw. I'd been working for UPSEI for a couple of years now, and though I knew what criminals with enhanced abilities could do, I'd never imagined any of them would do this. The hospital that once stood here now lay in ruins, as if a nuclear bomb had gone off in the center of it.

I was so grateful that Sarah's surgery had been moved up a couple of days - if it hadn't, my sister surely would have been killed in the attack.

I was too busy staring at the inhumane destruction in front of me that I wasn't paying full attention to where I was going. I didn't even realize that I was still walking until I accidently bumped into someone.

"C'mon, man!" A girl with dark brown hair complained as I accidently made her spill her water down the front of her shirt.

"Oh, darn. I'm so sorry." I apologized instantly. She sighed, patting at the shirt in a failed effort to dry it.

"It's fine." She sighed. She glanced around. "Horrible, isn't it?"

"That's one word for it." I agreed. She nodded, her face twisted in disgust as she took in the ground around her.

"People like the ones who did this need to be stopped." She muttered. She sighed again and looked at me. "Are you one of the volunteers? The sign-in station is over there."

"Uh, no. Just needed to see it for myself." I replied. I looked at her. "You?"

"Volunteering. I needed to do something." She replied. I nodded, understanding.

"Hey, I'm sorry about your shirt. Can I buy you a coffee?" I offered.

"It's okay." She assured me. I frowned.

"You sure? You're on your break, right?" I guessed. She nodded. "It's the least you deserve for helping out with all this."

The girl smiled. "Okay." She agreed. "I'm Faith, by the way."

"Miles." I grinned, shaking her hand. "Miles DeCook."

**2019**

"Alright guys. Don't take your eyes off of her." I told my agents, watching as they loaded Bridget Short into the transport. I walked back over to the Elite Force, who were watching the scene cautiously.

"Are you sure she'll be okay?" Oliver Short questioned, for the third time since I'd been on the scene. I gave him and his sister what I hoped was a reassuring smile, knowing that this must all be hard on them.

"Yes. UPSEI has some of the best medical officers in the world. They'll make sure she's taken care of medically before we lock her behind bars." I promised them.

"And she won't get out?" Dani Short questioned, looking nervous at the prospect. I smiled at her.

"Your mother is in good hands, Miss Short." I assured her as Geminus, Chase Davenport, and Calla Davenport walked over.

"Thanks, Miles." Geminus gave me a smile. I nodded at her.

"Geminus." I said by way of goodbye. "Elite Force."

I headed back to the truck and climbed in the passenger seat, next to my partner, Jones. "Let's go." I told her. She nodded and started the truck as I watched the team through the rearview mirror.

"You know them or something?" Jones questioned. I nodded.

"Geminus, yeah. And I think Calla is Faith's cousin." I mentioned. Jones frowned as we pulled away.

"Your girlfriend, Faith?" She questioned. "I didn't know she was connected like that."

"Neither did I." I hummed thoughtfully.

**2021**

"Hey." Jessica looked up as I tossed her her jacket. She caught it at the last minute, frowning.

"Hi?" She said hesitantly, confused. I nodded at the door and turned around. I walked towards the base's exit, expecting her to follow me. Sure enough, I heard the sound of her boots hitting the metal floor behind me. "Uh, what's going on?"

I didn't answer her, not until after we'd escaped into the tunnels. "Kidnapping, plans for superhero genocide...I can't believe we got caught up in this. I can't believe Faith's involved in this." I declared as soon as I was sure we were out of range of S.H.I.R.T.'s security devices. The last thing we needed was Bosetti learning about what we knew.

"I know." Jessica's voice was full of guilt, just as it had been when she first told me about all of this. "What have we done?"

I looked back, slightly paranoid that we were being followed. But no one knew we were out here - for all Faith knew, I was going home to change before coming back.

God, I couldn't believe that I'd taken this job for her. While I wanted to say that this was unlike her, I knew in my heart that Jessica was telling the truth. Faith had always been so angry at people who used their abilities to gain power over people - people like that twisted science into weapons of destruction, she would say, and people who were capable of such destruction had to be kept in check, at all costs. For Jessica, that had meant laws. For Faith, that had meant destroying anyone who could be a threat. Even those that weren't.

"You want to make this right?" I questioned, looking at Jessica. She frowned, nodding.

"Of course." She replied sincerely. I nodded.

"Good. C'mon." I told her, beginning to head down the tunnels. She hastened to keep pace with me.

"Where are we going?" She questioned, confused. I glanced at her.

"Davenport Tower." I told her, determined to try and fix things before they got even more out of hand.

**2023**

"So, I was thinking Jones, Hendricks, and Davidson for UPSEI. They're good people, and they'd love an opportunity like this." I mentioned, going over the profiles in front of me. Jessica was next to me, scanning over a pile herself.

"There are a lot of people here." She observed, going through them. "And these don't even include the international or intergalactic volunteers the Coalition came up with. How are you ever going to decide who to recruit?"

"I don't know. But whoever I choose has to be perfect for the job." I shook my head, staring at the profiles. "S.H.I.R.T.'s made a lot of mistakes, but I joined it to try and stop super-powered criminals. Just because we're working with superheroes and bionic heroes now doesn't mean they don't exist, and S.H.I.R.T. has to be able to stop them."

"You're doing a lot of good here, Director DeCook." Jessica told me, smirking. I chuckled.

"Yeah. But first I've got a lot of hard work to do." I stated.

"We." Jessica said. I frowned.

"Huh?" I asked, looking at her.

"We have a lot of work to do." She insisted. She rolled her eyes. "If you think you're doing this all on your own, you're mistaken."

I stared at her, a slow smile coming to my face as she started to divide the profiles into piles. After a minute, she glanced up.

"What?" She asked, realizing I was staring. I didn't answer, instead leaning in to kiss her.

Her hand raised to my neck as she kissed me back, but only for a chaste moment. She pulled away then, smiling. "We have a lot of work to do." She reminded me softly, glancing at the papers. "We'll never get finished if we get distracted."

"Oh, right. Sorry." I apologized, glancing back at the papers. Maybe I'd gotten our signals crossed. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate."

"It was. We're at work." She reminded me. I nodded and she glanced at me. "Doesn't mean I didn't like it. A lot."

I stared at her for a moment before grinning.


	16. Terry Perry

**2010**

"And this is the cafeteria. Most students have breakfast here as well as lunch." Ms. Watkins, the current vice-principal of Mission Creek high explained as she continued our tour. I rolled my eyes - why couldn't they just eat at home - wholly unimpressed with the tour. I may be new to the education business (a career choice I'd made after deciding that tormenting prisoners and inmates just didn't give me the same joy it had when I first started at the Los Angeles Correctional Facility), but even I could tell that this school was less than average in...just about everything.

"Trent!" Watkins shouted suddenly. I followed her gaze to see a group of football players standing in front of a pudding-covered freshman. I smirked a little to myself, wondering what the kid had done to deserve that. "What have we talked about the use of pudding?"

"It was an accident, Ms. Watkins." The older boy insisted. One of the other football players opened his mouth to object, but swiftly shut it once he saw the looks the others were giving him. Judging by his height, and the way his uniform was the only one without his name printed on it, I assumed that he was a freshman, new to the team and unwilling to jeopardize the position by arguing with the leader. Smart kid.

"Was it, Henry?" Watkins asked the boy covered in pudding. He glanced at Trent, then nodded quickly.

"My own fault, actually. I'm going to go clean up." He said hurriedly, before rushing off. It was clear that Watkins didn't believe it for a second, but without proof, she couldn't do much.

"Boys, I'd like to introduce you to our new principal, Principal Perry." She decided to go another route, trying to scare them with me. Trent didn't look all that impressed as he gave me a once over, clearly skeptical that such a small woman could be any type of threat to him. "I'm sure things will be different with her in charge."

Oh, things would definitely be different. Just not in the way that Watkins thought. I smiled, already making plans for this school in my head.

**2013**

I stopped in the cafeteria, looking around for the student that Trent had reported to me earlier. He wasn't hard to find – he was sitting at the football players' usual table, surrounded by their cheerleaders and his own friends. Most I didn't recognize – we'd had a number of new students recently, and I didn't care enough to memorize faces – but the Dooley kid that Trent liked to mess with was there, as was that nerd girl who'd won a few awards last year.

"Hey! New Kid! Get over here!" I shouted, storming over to him, furious. He looked terrified as he got up, but that wasn't going to spare him.

"Yes?" He gulped nervous.

"Do you know what happens when my football players get humiliated?" I demanded. Before he could respond, I answered my own question. "No, you don't! You know why! Because my football players DON'T get humiliated!"

"They look pretty humiliated to me." One of the other new kids pointed at the table where my beloved footballers had been exiled to. Janitor Michaelson was trying to squeeze through the tiny space between the players and the wall, and as a result, kept accidentally hitting them with the garbage bag. All in all, it wasn't a great look.

"You know, I know what team spirit is about," I commented, glancing at the team, "because I was the jammer on the North Pacific Roller Derby Championship Team."

"Quite an accomplishment." The dweeb complimented.

"Don't mock me, squash face!" I snapped, having no interest for flattery. That's not what this story was about. "My career ended when a trash talker like you got inside my head and I wiped out. One zebra called it the worst single body collision she'd ever seen."

"I'd crash too if I saw a talking zebra." The new kid commented.

"It's a referee, you desk donkey!" I shouted. Geez, kids these days! He took a step back, nervous, but I didn't stop. "Trent told me what you did this morning at breakfast. You will not undermine the morale of my team." I looked at the rest of his friends. "Evacuate this table. NOW!"

The friends were smart; the moment I spoke, they were out of their seats, their things in their arms. But the new kid…it was like I hit some sort of switch. He stood taller, stepping closer to me. "Watch who you're talking to, sports bra." He growled. "I bet you panicked, threw yourself off the track, and blamed the other team for your weakness."

I stared at him, shocked that a student would dare to show me such disrespect. I could see that his friends were stunned too, the Dooley kid and the nerd girl whispered to themselves as they stared at him in horror.

"I had to quit because of that accident!" I snapped, furious. The boy cocked his head to the side, glaring at me.

"Quit, or move out of the city in shame" He asked. I stared at him as the rest of the cafeteria gawked at us.

"He doesn't know! He wasn't there!" I was quick to defend myself, stunned that he had guessed this much.

"Why don't you hop in your economy car and drive home to your six cats and bingo tournament?" The boy sneered.

"Jokes on you! I have five cats!" He didn't need to know that I was looking to adopt a sixth. I rolled my eyes, deciding that this so wasn't worth the effort. I could just expel him if he ticked me off any more. I was about to walk away when Trent and Jaden Parker stopped me.

"We didn't get our table back! And it's bumming us out!" Trent whined.

"And when we're bummed out, we lose." Jaden added, trying to add some logic to his captain's complains. "Can't you do something?"

I sighed. There was really only one thing to do. "Alright, kid," I an nouned, turning back around, "I'll make you a deal. Let's be civilized and settle this the old-fashioned way: with a bone crushing match on the football field."

I heard the players cheer from behind me, clearly liking the idea. "We're in." The idiot kid replied. He started pointing at his friends. "Me, him, her, her, and…and him." He finally settled on the Dooley kid. I could have laughed – out of the entire group, only one of them even looked capable of keeping up with any of my players, and from what I heard, he was hardly the brightest crayon in the book.

"You and your band of nobodies versus my fighting dingoes." I smiled, liking the sound of that. "The winner takes the table, and all the glory."

As if I was going to let one little brat talk to me like that and get away with it.

**2016**

I sighed, watching the cafeteria as students came in and out with their lunches. I used to love watching the cafeteria - Trent would be squirting a nerd with pudding, some idiot would trip and spill their lunch, and there was always some sort of drama going on at the cheerleaders' table. And all that was still happening, but for some reason, I could no longer be thrilled by it.

It was no mystery why - the past three years had been chalk full of the weird and the unexpected. From acid-spitting llamas to Spike attacks to swarms of robotic flies attacking the students, the Davenports had made things interesting. But now they were gone, off at some private island academy. They didn't even leave me the Parkers, who would have been better than nothing.

I had to admit, as much as I hated those kids, I missed them too. Dumbass Adam could certainly liven up a room, and Chase's know-it-all attitude would get into more problems than even Trent could cause. Bree and Jaden were always getting into something, and oh, Dooley and Parker...they were certainly the favorites of the freaks. Watching them try and get out of their ridiculous problems was the best entertainment I'd ever had, well, aside from the causing the problems for them to try and get out of.

I sighed, wondering how I would ever be able to recreate that kind of excitement here.

Eventually, I knew the answer: I couldn't. And if I couldn't get that excitement here, then I'd just have to go to the excitement.

**2035**

I smiled to myself, hanging up the last photo of Mr. Whiskers on the wall of my new office. My old job had gotten boring - no security job, no matter who I was protecting, could match up to what I used to do for Davenport Industries. Sure, Daven-Parker had offered me a security position at her company (though I'm pretty sure she only did it out of a sense of obligation), but no, this would be more fulfilling. Security jobs required you to protect people, and let's face it, that wasn't my thing. It was too much work, with very little reward.

It may be a little messed up, but I missed tormenting people. I missed my old job as the Mission Creek High Principal - I'd been surrounded by so much teen angst, it had been like Christmas for me every day of the year.

This wasn't quite the same - I didn't have the same power I used to have, and it wasn't exactly with the Davenports - but I still got to do what I loved most: making other people miserable. And in the best way possible.


	17. Rio Daniels

I frowned, staring up at the big sign on the blue-colored building. Walmart, it read. I cocked my head to the side, confused: what was a 'Walmart'?

"Hey!" I spun around to see a tall boy with black hair standing not to far away from me, a couple of bags tucked under his arms. He looked vaguely familiar, but I just couldn't place him. "Hey, you're one of those guys from last night, right? You're one of Krane's soldiers?"

"What?" I replied, completely confused. Who was this guy? Why did he think I was a solider? Was I a soldier?

I couldn't remember anything at all. It was like my head was empty, with nothing there to guide me or tell me what to do or say. The only thing I was sure of was that I didn't like this one bit.

The guy took a step towards me and I instinctively stepped back, wondering if maybe I should run. "Whoa, easy." The boy placed the bags on the ground and raised both his hands in a non-threatening gesture. "I'm not going to hurt you. The Triton App sucks, doesn't it?"

"Triton App?" Was I supposed to know what that was. He nodded.

"Right, amnesia. What's your name? Wait, you don't know that, do you?"

I went to shake my head, when I noticed a little bit of writing on my jacket. It read 'R-10' on the front, just over the right side of my chest.

"R-10?" I read aloud. The boy frowned.

"That's a...nice name. I'm Adam." He introduced himself. He looked around. "Do you, uh, want to get out of here? It's kinda cold outside, and my place is pretty warm."

Getting out of the cold did sound like a nice idea. "Okay." I agreed. He smiled and picked up his bags with one arm before offering me the other hand. I smiled back, copying him, and took his hand.

**2016**

I smiled, watching the stars twinkle above me. I was sitting in the main entrance / lounge area of the academy, comfortable settled in the large window that overlooked the observation deck. It was the perfect place to watch the stars from, I thought.

As much as I liked to look at the stars, a part of my mind was preoccupied with this whole name thing. We were all supposed to either pick our own names or get named by Mr. Davenport (and I could tell you right now, I wasn't going to let him give me a name, lest it be something like Donaldina or some other feminine variation of his own name), but for the life of me, I couldn't decide on one. My friends had given me some nice suggestions - I was particularly fond of the names Willow, Hazel, and Clara - but none of them seemed to suit me.

"What are you doing up?" Adam's voice dragged me from my thoughts and I looked up just as he sat down on the ground next to me.

"I'm not going to get in trouble for being out of the dorm so late, am I?" The mentors hadn't really given us all the rules yet, aside from the one about not attacking people, which had obviously been directed at a younger boy named Spin.

"I won't tell if you won't?" Adam suggested. I smiled. "Seriously though, what's up?"

"Oh, it's just...I like looking at the stars." I admitted, glancing back at the beautiful sky. "I like astrology, you see. They're amazing."

"Yeah." Adam agreed softly. I looked at him.

"Was it this amazing from the mainland?" I asked, curious. He shrugged.

"Not the sky," he admitted, much to my disappointment, "but everything else was pretty cool. I mean, this place is cool, but the mainland had pizza, and sports, and...well, actually, that was pretty much it."

"Maybe I'll check it out sometime." I laughed, amused.

"You should." He agreed. He looked at me. "So, I hear I missed quite the party today."

I laughed; that was certainly one way to put it. "Yeah, where were you?" I inquired. "I looked for you everywhere."

"Surfing with Bob." He explained, grinning.

"Tell me he wasn't the surfboard." I begged, having overheard some of their plans earlier. They'd talked about using him as a surfboard, but I was hoping they'd been kidding.

"Nah, Calla had these old surfboards that she doesn't use often, so I asked if I could borrow them for the day." He explained. I smiled.

"That sounds like fun." I'd seen videos of surfing, and it actually looked like a really cool sport.

"Maybe I'll take you next time. Oh!" He stopped himself, and smiled. "I thought of a name for you."

"Really?" I leaned forward, pushing my bangs behind my ears. Adam was the only one who hadn't given me input as to what my name should be (aside from vetoing some of the choices that weren't so good), so I was curious as to what he had to offer.

"Rio." He said the name slowly, smiling as he said it. I looked at him, memorizing the name. Rio, Rio... "You know, it's so close to R-10. I mean, R-1-0, R-1-O. I thought it would be perfect."

"Yeah. Rio." I carefully pronounced the name, loving how easily it rolled off the tongue. It was short and sweet, and sorta exotic too, making it unique and hard to forget. And I absolutely loved the way it sounded to my ears. "Yeah, I like that name. I'm Rio." I beamed at him. "I love it."

"I'm glad." He grinned at me. I couldn't help but smile back, the name still floating around my head.

**2021**

I glanced up briefly as I heard a knock at the door, but didn't turn around to address Kieran as he entered the classroom. "Are you still not talking to me?" He asked softly. I didn't answer, instead concentrating on going through the file in my hands. A part of being a good bionic hero was being prepared for the future, and with the increasing number of supervillain attacks over the past few years (despite Geminus' best efforts, the emergence of the New League of Heroes had done little to deter villains from trying to commit crimes, most of the underestimating the NLH due to their generally young age), it seemed like a good idea for us to be familiar with those enemies as well as the FBI and CIA's top ten lists. "This is ridiculous, Rio."

"No, what's ridiculous is that you were safe for a full week before anyone even bothered to give me an update." I replied coldly. I dropped the file and turned to glare at him. "What's ridiculous is that I had to hear that you were safe from Adam instead of you. And before you make any excuses, we're telepathically linked, Kieran. It would have taken literally two seconds."

"I know, and I'm sorry." He said sincerely. I crossed my arms, still upset. "I...You don't want excuses, fine. I forgot. It's a terrible reason, but it's the truth."

"I can't believe you." I muttered to myself, turning back around.

"I had a lot on my mind, Rio!" Kieran snapped, annoyed. "I did get kidnapped, and then Calla went into labor, and we had to stop S.H.I.R.T.! It was a busy week."

"I thought you were dead!" I spun around, furious. He stopped short, staring at me. I took a shaky breath before continuing. "You were gone for months, for months, Kieran. And I couldn't reach you. I thought you were dead, or at least, that you might have been. You're my brother, my twin brother, and I thought you were dead. Do you have any idea what that's like?"

Kieran took a moment to consider his answer. "I'm sorry." He apologized again. I rolled my eyes and turned to walk away, but he grabbed my arm, stopping me. "I'm sorry, Rio. I didn't...I didn't think. I should have contacted you as soon as we got a chance. And I know it wasn't my fault that I got taken in the first place, but I am sorry that you went through that. If it were you that was taken..." He sighed. "I'm so sorry."

I sniffed, crossing my arms again. "Better." I muttered. He cracked a slight smile. "You ever do that again, and I will kill you. Adam will help me. No one will find your body."

"Understood." He agreed. I smiled and hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad you're back." I murmured. He hugged me back.

"So, are we good?" He asked after a moment. I nodded and pulled away. "Good. Because I have something have to tell you, and you have to promise not to kill me for it."

**2022**

I took a deep breath and started towards the door, feeling my legs shake beneath me. This didn't feel real to me at all, not in the slightest, but somehow that made it seem all the more amazing.

Kieran was waiting for me at the doors, looking fidgety and uncomfortable in his tuxedo. I smiled as I approached him.

"Last chance. We can still geoleap out of here." He told me, half joking. I gave him a look. "You look great, sis."

"Thanks." I replied as he offered me his arm. I looped my hand between it, reminding myself to breathe as Spin and Logan opened the doors for us.

Little Naomi was walking down the aisle in her light green dress, tossing little yellow petals all over the ground. Katherine, Calla, Taylor, and Bree were at the left side of the aisle, right at the end, while Chase, Leo, Bob, and Daniel were at the right. And right in the middle, smiling wider than I'd ever seen him smile before, was Adam.

The walk down the aisle seemed to take forever, but eventually, Adam was taking my hands at the altar. "You're crying." I mentioned, noticing the tears in the corners of his eyes.

"No, you're crying." He retorted childishly. I couldn't help but laugh. "You ready?"

"Born ready." I replied sincerely, more than ready to take this new step in our lives together.

**2024**

"I have to say," Adam sighed softly, lying next to me on the hospital bed, "we make a good looking kid."

I chuckled, agreeing with him. God, our baby looked absolutely perfect. I had a feeling that he was going to grow up to look like his father, so I knew he'd definitely get all the luck in the looks department. "We certainly do." I agreed. I glanced at him. "Don't tell your siblings, but ours is the cutest out of the bunch."

"Without a doubt." Adam agreed, grinning, not taking his eyes off our son. "We still need to pick a name."

"What about Francis?" I suggested. Adam leaned back and gave me a look. "What?"

"Sweetie, if I can't name him Bob II, then you can't name him Francis. That is a name that will get him beat up before he learns how to kick people's butts." Adam said frankly. I gave him a look. "Nu-uh. I'm serious. No Francis."

"Fine." I relented. If I could veto his choices, then I supposed it was only fair that he could veto mine. He frowned.

"Wait, why Francis?" He asked, curious. I shrugged.

"It's silly." I sighed.

"Look who you're talking to. I love silly." He insisted. I smiled.

"Well...Adam, Bree, Chase, Daniel...then Emily. Your family has a thing for ABCs." I pointed out. He paused for a moment. "Forget it. Noah breaks the pattern anyway."

"What about Frank?" Adam suggested a moment later. I raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I like the ABCs too."

I smiled, considering the name. "What do you think, honey? Are you a Frank?" I asked our baby. When he didn't respond, I took it as a sign that the kid didn't care what his name was so long as we fed him. "I like Frank. Frank Davenport."

"Frank Bob Davenport." Adam grinned. I gave him a look. "Look, I lost a bet with Daniel. If I don't at least make Bob the middle name, then I have to legally change my name to Clarence. Do you really want to be married to a Clarence?"

I sighed. "Frank Bob Davenport it is." I declared.


	18. Kieran Daniels

**2015**

"You know, I really don't see why we have to wait for them." I commented as I sat down on the bottom step of the bench in the middle of the school lobby. Caleb didn't respond, instead perching himself on the top of the bench to make sure that Calla noticed him when she walked in. I started going through my bag, trying to remember if I'd put my new book in here. "They're going to be surrounded by cameras and stuff."

"Yeah, but I got the feeling that that weird government guy is going to get rid of her and Leo as soon as he can so that the cameras to focus on Adam, Bree, and Chase. She'll be looking for a familiar face." Caleb reasoned. I paused in my search through my bag and looked up at him.

"She's in love with Chase...you do know that, right?" I said slowly. "Look, man, you're wasting your time on her."

"Please, Bionic Boy is going to screw this up sooner or later." Caleb rolled his eyes. "She'll need a shoulder to cry on, and it will be me."

"Whatever you say, man." I pulled out my book and began to read. After a couple of moments, I heard Calla's voice.

"Adam, Bree, and Chase are back! Isn't it awesome?" She asked, walking up to us. I smiled, feeling as if my point about them had been proven.

"Yeah, maybe now we'll be able to get rid of you." Caleb joked.

"Never gonna happen, Jones." She retorted, and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Something funny, Kieran?" She questioned. I nodded, looking up from my book.

"Yes, your strange obsession with people's last names. I mean, Dooley, Jones." I shook my head, amused. "We're not in the military, Calla."

"Well if we were, I'd be commanding officer." She declared childishly. "Now, what's that book you're reading? Daniels." She added as an afterthought.

"Advanced Topics of Zoology. I'm trying to get an internship at the city zoo." I explained, showing her the book.

"Sounds fun." She smiled at me. Suddenly, cameramen walked into the school. "It's starting."

Calla craned her neck, trying to get a better look at her friends. Almost everyone was focused on the re-introduction of the bionic humans to the school. Everyone except Caleb, who hadn't taken his eyes off Calla since she sat down.

I sighed, shaking my head. Eventually, either he'd get the hint and realize it was never going to happen, or Calla was going to leave. Either way, I didn't anticipate this ending well.

**2016**

"I can't believe this is happening." Taylor cried into her arms, keeping her face buried in them. I looked away, knowing that there wasn't much I could do to help. Actually, there was nothing I could do to fix this, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to try.

"Is there anything I can get you? I can make a trip to the mainland if there's anything you want." I offered, pulling out my wallet to see what I could afford.

"My sight back?" Taylor requested. I paused.

"Baby, I've got, like, eight and a half bucks." I said slowly. She laughed, raising her head, her sightless eyes filled with tears.

"Yeah, I don't think that's enough." She agreed. She shook her head. "God, my life is over."

"Okay, that's an exaggeration." I told her sternly.

"You're not the one who can't see, Kieran!" She snapped. I sighed.

"It sucks, I know. If I could change it, I would, in a heartbeat. But it's not the end of your life. Plenty of people manage just fine in life without their sight, and I know that Calla, Davenport, and Douglas are all working on something to make it easier on you." I reassured her.

"Yeah, well...what am I supposed to do now?" She questioned.

"Rest?" I suggested.

"No, I mean. I can hardly be a bionic hero if I can't even see the danger." She argued. I hesitated. There had been talk about that around the Academy since news of Taylor's injury had spread, and most of the students were doubtful that she'd be able to help on missions.

"I'm sure we can figure something out. I mean, it might take some extra training, but we can see if we can find a way to make you mission ready again." I took her hand, squeezing it gently. "We'll get through."

"Stop saying that." She muttered.

"Taylor, I'm serious. We can make it work, I promise." I assured her. She ripped her hand out of mine, upset.

"Stop saying we!" She snapped. I paused, confused.

"Excuse me?" I asked, uncertain of what she was upset about. She shook her head, biting her lip.

"Stop saying we. Geez." She muttered. I frowned. "Why are you even here, Kieran? You have classes."

"I also have a girlfriend in the infirmary. The mentors will understand." I reasoned.

"Girlfriend?" She repeated incredulously. "We've barely been together a month, Kieran." She sighed deeply, squeezing her fists closed. "You know what? Just go, okay? You don't need to deal with this."

"Taylor-" I began, but she cut me off.

"Go!" She snapped, turning to look in my general direction. "I don't want your pity, and if you're just doing this so you're not the ass that broke up with the blind girl, it's fine. We can say I dumped you if it saves your reputation."

I didn't say anything for a long time as I stared at her. Eventually though, I found the words. "Listen. Okay? Just listen. I am not here out of pity, or for my reputation. I am here because I care about you. End of story. As for what I have to deal with, that's my choice. And if you want to break up with me...well, I can't stop you, but don't do it because you think that this...you being blind...will change how I feel about you, okay? Because it doesn't. At all."

Taylor just sat there, breathing heavily for a moment before she started to reach towards me. I grabbed her hands, and she slowly slid them up my arms until she found my shoulders. Then she wrapped her arms around me and buried her face in my shoulder.

A little surprised by the hug, I hesitated for a moment before hugging her back, holding her tightly. "You can't get rid of me that easily, alright?" I promised her.

**2020**

"Ow." I complained to myself, hand reaching up to my aching head as I woke up. Beneath me, the ground was cold and dirty, like I was in some sort of basement. The hell...? The last thing I could remember clearly was fighting a criminal with...yodeling abilities? That didn't make much sense to me, but neither did this, so I suppose it was possible.

"Taylor? Rio?" I called, rolling over onto my back and sitting up. I scowled, looking at the bright blue bars that could only mean one thing - I was in a cell that blocked my powers. "Anyone?"

"Hey!" It was then that I noticed another cell across from mine, where a girl with light brown hair was standing. She looked vaguely familiar - I'd definitely seen her before - and once I saw the scarlet-colored uniform she was wearing, the name clicked in my head.

"Scarlet Ace." I identified her. She smiled a little.

"You're one of those bionic heroes, right? I'm sorry, I can't remember your name."

"Kieran. Where are we?" I demanded, standing up. I stumbled a bit at first, my legs surprisingly weak, but managed to stay standing. The Scarlet Ace smiled at me sympathetically.

"We have no idea. They won't tell us anything, and all our attempts to escape have been met with pretty heavy resistant."

"Heavily armed resistance." Another voice called. Craning my neck, I could just make out another cell next to the Scarlet Ace, where a tall, brown-haired guy was leaning against the far wall. "Spotlight." He introduced. He jerked his head towards what I had to assume was another cell, next to mine and out of sight. "Your friend's here too, by the way, but she doesn't look hurt."

"Friend?" I frowned, trying to remember who had been with me on that final mission. "Taylor or Rio?"

"Uh..." Clearly he didn't know their names.

"Hair color?" I tried.

"Dark. Black, I think, but this light is crappy, so it could be dark brown." He shrugged.

"Taylor?" I called, knowing that it had to be her. I heard a muffled moan. "Tay? Baby? You okay?"

There was no answer for a minute, then: "Kieran?"

"I'm here. It's okay." I promised her.

"Where are we? This doesn't feel like the Academy." She called. I saw Spotlight's face change from bored to concerned - he must have just caught sight of her glasses or her eyes.

"Dang." He whistled.

"We're in cells. Separate ones. I'm on your left, but there's a wall between us." I explained carefully, ignoring Spotlight. "The bars are in the direction of the whistle you just heard - careful not to touch them. We're in here with Scarlet Ace and Spotlight."

"From the New League of Heroes?" Taylor questioned.

"Yeah. Hi." The Scarlet Ace spoke up.

"Is there a plan to get out of here?" Taylor asked, tone slightly impatient, clearly not liking this situation any more than the rest of us. I glanced at the Scarlet Ace - she looked exhausted, now that I gave her a closer inspection, and not particularly optimistic about that escape plan.

"I'm sure we'll figure something out." I replied uneasily, hoping I was right.

**2021**

"Alright, everyone's here?" I called, double-checking so that we didn't leave anyone out of the announcement. Katherine, Bob, Spin, Daniel, Adam, Leo, Logan, and Kate were all gathered in the cafeteria, waiting to see what was so important. Rio, who I'd just dragged in here, was at the farthest table with Adam, giving me a confused look as she tried to figure out what this was all about.

I turned to Taylor. "Do you want to start, or should I?"

She smirked and grabbed one of my hands. She raised her free hand, beaming. "So, we got married."

The reactions, as expected, were pretty mixed. Kate immediately let out a happy squeal and practically tackled my wife in a hug, while Logan went to shake my head. Adam, Bob, and Leo all looked pretty thrilled too, though the later looked just as surprised as he did happy. Daniel and Spin just exchanged looks and then frowned at Taylor. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were trying to figure out, but I knew that telling them that no, she wasn't pregnant wasn't going to do anything to quell their suspicions.

Katherine and Rio on the other hand, didn't look nearly as happy as the others. Katherine looked downright insulted. She may not have been my biggest fan (or so she claimed - I knew that she secretly liked me, whether she'd admit it or not), but she and Taylor were pretty close and she was probably expecting to be made a bridesmaid or something. I had to admit, the shock and distaste on her face was pretty amusing.

Rio, though, looked like she was fighting off an aneurism. We'd only just made up from our last fight, and this probably wasn't a great way to restart things. I knew she'd have wanted Taylor and I to have a real wedding, like I knew she and Adam were starting to talk about for themselves, and was probably pretty hurt that we went and got married without even telling her.

A part of me felt bad for that, I really did. But after everything that happened - getting nabbed by S.H.I.R.T., being stuck in those godawful cells for so long - Taylor and I didn't want to wait anymore. With the way our lives went, things could change in an instant, so it was better to act while we could. That was why we did this before coming back to the Academy. So that even if all of it ended tomorrow, we'd still have today.

"Congrats." Rio forced a smile onto her face and gave each of us a hug. Taylor grinned, one hand still on Rio's shoulder.

"Hey, so I know it wasn't a conventional wedding, but our lives are hardly conventional." She said to my sister. "That being said, we were thinking of holding a reception. Do you wanna maybe help with that?"

"Uh, yes." Rio replied, her tone practically adding 'duh' to the end of her sentence. She gave Taylor another hug, beaming, then me.

**2036**

"Happy birthday, honey." I greeted Valerie as she came down to the cafeteria.

"Thanks, Dad." She smiled at me. She looked around. "Is Mom not back from the mission yet?"

She was trying not to sound disappointed. I knew she'd been a little worried when Taylor got asked to help out with that avalanche that happened last night, just before she went to bed. I smiled at her reassuringly.

"She'll be back soon, Val." I promised. "She's just picking up your present."

"Really?" Valerie beamed. She sat down next to me and reached for the orange juice container. "Hey, how come you had to keep my gift at Mr. Davenport's house? I'm not like Frank - I don't go snooping to see what I'm getting."

"I know. You're...more patient than your cousin." She smiled proudly at that. "This was just a different kind of gift."

"What kind of gift?" Valerie wondered aloud. I smiled.

"The kind you can't wrap in a box." Taylor announced, stepping into the cafeteria, a dog leash in her hands. Valerie let out a squeal of excitement and rushed over to the Dalmatian, eyes wide with excitement.

"You got me a dog?!" She almost screamed, she was so excited. I laughed, getting up to go to Taylor's side. She smiled as I wrapped my arm around her waist, laying her head on my shoulder. "I can't believe you got me a dog!"

"Well, a girl doesn't turn eleven every day." I pointed out. Valerie beamed and hugged the dog's neck. Thankfully, we'd gotten a very calm dog who didn't seem to mind our daughter's excitement.

"What's his name?" She demanded.

"Her name is Amy." Taylor told her. Valerie smiled.

"Hello Amy.:" She turned to dog, ruffling her fur. I smiled.

"We did good." I whispered in Taylor's ear. She laughed.

"I think we did more than that." She whispered back, amused.


	19. Taylor Krane

**2016**

"Ow." I whined, confused and disoriented, my head aching in a bad way. I sat up, realizing that I was lying in the dirt, confused as to how I got here. Thinking back, the last thing I could remember...

Why couldn't I remember anything?

"You alright there, sweetheart?" I looked up suddenly to see an older man, probably in his mid-forties, standing over me. I frowned.

"I...I don't..." I didn't really know what to say. If I couldn't remember anything, that had to be bad, right? "Where am I?"

"Well, honey, you're in the middle of my wheat field. You wanna tell me what you're doing here?" He didn't sound mad, which I supposed was a good sign. When I didn't answer (how could I?), he cocked his head to the side and looked me over. "What's your name, honey?"

"I don't...I don't know." I mumbled softly. He raised an eyebrow at that.

"You don't remember your own name?" He questioned skeptically. I shook my head, then immediately regretted it as the motion caused my stomach to churn.

"Oh." I moaned softly, hand reaching to my head. The older man frowned.

"Did you hit your head?" He asked gently.

"I think so?" I replied, uncertain. "It hurts."

"I can see that." He bent down so that we were at eye-level. "Do you remember anything?"

I really tried to remember something, anything, but nothing was coming to mind. "Who am I?" I asked softly, hoping against hope that he would have answers for me. He pursued his lips, considering the situation for a moment.

"I don't know. But how about we go get that head checked out, and see if anyone from around here knows who you are?" He suggested. "That sound like a plan?"

I nodded slowly, careful to not worsen the concussion the nausea told me I had. He smiled and offered me a hand up.

**2016**

I wasn't sure what to expect of this 'Bionic Academy', other than the fact that there were other people like me that were supposed to be here. However, whatever I expected, I certainly didn't expect the reception I received as I stepped off the hydroloop that brought me to the island.

"AH! It's her!" An older, spiky haired man shouted the moment I stepped into the Academy. Most of the people in the room stepped into fighting stances, ready to attack me at any moment.

I stepped back, nervous. The Sullivan family had reacted like this too, after I accidentally used my superspeed, an ability I hadn't even known I'd had before that moment, to push their daughter Alice out of the way of one of the brothers' misaimed football throws. But these people were supposed to be like me! I had hoped they'd helped me, and had certainly not expected this kind of reaction.

"Hey, you look familiar." One of the guys, this one clad in white as opposed to the black and red/green/yellow/orange uniforms that most of the people were wearing. He didn't seem like he wanted to kill me, which I took as a good sign. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"Adam, that's S-1!" One of the girls in white snapped at him. S-1? Was that my name? The Sullivans had been calling me Abby, after Mr. Sullivan's mother. It was supposed to be a temporary name, just until I found out my real one, but anything sounded better than S-1. "sHE'S Krane's lead soldier. She tried to destroy us, multiple times."

I tried to kill these people? That didn't sound right to me, but it did explain why they all looked so angry and scared of me.

"Oh yeah." The guy grinned at me. "What do you say we finish the job and get out of here?"

I stared at him, hoping he was joking. "Adam!" Another girl exclaimed, also staring at him.

"I'm kidding." 'Adam' reassured her, walking over to her.

"I, uh..." I trailed off. I'd planned what I was going to say, but all the hostility in the room was making it hard to think. That, and my head was starting to hurt again.

"What the hell are you doing here?" The other white-wearing guy demanded, still looking at me as if he wanted to kill me. I gulped nervously.

"I figured since this is the Bionic Academy, you're the only people who might be able to help. There's something wrong with me." I blurted out.

"Yeah. We already know what, Psycho Sally." The only other person wearing white, a girl with long brown hair, retorted. It was then that I realized that the people in white must be in charge.

"You tried to crush Leo, kill me, and take all of them out!" The shorter of the two girls added. I frowned.

"I'm sorry...I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know who you are." I told them sincerely, praying they'd believe me. Whatever I'd done to earn their ire, I needed them to forgive it so they could help me.

"Of course she doesn't." The guy who'd shouted when I first walked in here started staring at me, not with anger, but with genuine concern.

"Just like the rest of us?" One of the boys in black lowered his fists, realizing that I wasn't an enemy. Many of the others began to follow suit, though the ones in white didn't look so reassured.

"Why weren't you rounded up with the others?" The more serious of the boys demanded. I shook my head helplessly, not having an answer to that.

"All I know is that I woke up in a field and this family found me and took me in." I sighed before continuing. "When they discovered I was bionic, they freaked out, so I ran away and I've been hiding ever since."

The people in white looked at each other, trying to gauge each other's reactions to what I'd said. "I don't believe her." One of the girls said simply.

"Me either." The other girl agreed.

"Well, why would she lie?" The black-clad boy from before questioned. I almost smiled - at least one person was on my side.

"Without Krane controlling her mind, with the Triton app, she has no reason to be evil." The older man added.

"That's what we thought about Sebastian too. And we all know what happened there!" The shorter of the guys snapped.

"We get it. He broke your heart. Let it go." The short girl growled.

"Who's Sebastian?" I asked before I could stop myself. When I saw the short guy's look, I dropped it. "Look, if you don't believe me, remove my chip. Then there's no way I can hurt you." I pointed out, moving my hair out of the way to make it easier for them.

All I needed was for them to believe me. If they didn't want me here, I could handle that. I'd been on my own for a while now, I could keep doing it. But I needed these headaches to stop, and I knew that they were my only hope. All I had to do was convince them of the truth.

**2016**

"Answer, answer…" I muttered as Kieran dialed Leo's personal number. Thankfully, he picked up on the first ring.

"Can't talk right now, Big D. The crème brule was such a hit last night that the book club ladies came back for brunch. Omelet up, Betty!" I smirked in amusement, just picturing Leo cooking brunch for a bunch of middle-aged book-club ladies.

"You joined a book club?" Katherine questioned.

"Wait, he can cook?" Logan asked at the exact same time. "Is there anything this guy can't do?"

"Oh, hey guys." Leo sounded surprised to hear from us. "Uh, Taylor…hi. It's, uh, good to see you. I heard you've been training-"

"Oh, forget about me!" I snapped. He could continue rambling away his needless guilt for what happened later. "There's been a horrible accident with your family's limo."

"What? Where?" Leo demanded.

"The Hurst Memorial Bridge." Kieran supplied. "Dude, the limo's barely hanging on. Calla's sending teams out to help with the civilians, but…"

"Look," I sighed. "I know you quit the team, but your family needs you." I pleaded with him, hoping to get through to him.

"Okay, I'll meet the four of you there." He agreed instantly.

"Wait, I'm not going!" I exclaimed. How could I? I was just going to be a liability out there, and this was too important to screw up.

"Why not?" Leo demanded, confused.

"I can't see." I reminded him. "I'd just be in the way."

"No you wouldn't!" Leo and Kieran both protested. At any other time, I would have smiled – it was nice to have their support – but this wasn't the time to fool around and believe in things that would never happen.

"Yes, I would." I insisted. How could they not understand that? I literally could not see and even I could see that I would be a burden rather than an asset on the mission.

"Taylor, do you have any idea how many times I've been 'in the way' on a mission?" Leo questioned.

"Yeah. Chase told me. Thirty-one and a half." I was still waiting on the explanation for that half though.

"Look, you're not going to be in the way. You've still got a lot to offer, and I need your help." Leo insisted.

"I don't know…" I replied hesitantly. As much as I wanted to believe that I could be useful on missions again, I didn't want to put anyone's lives at risk by going.

"Don't worry. We'll make it through this together." Logan assured me. I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder, recognizing the smaller hand as Katherine's.

"We're a team." Leo agreed. "All five of us."

"Alright. Let's do it." I agreed, smiling. Someone hung up just as I heard a pair of shoes move across the ground.

"Well?" That was Calla.

"He's on his way." Kieran assured her as we headed towards the hydroloop.

"Are you coming?" She asked, and I realized she must be talking to me.

"Yeah." I told her, though I wasn't sure how she'd react to that. This was Chase's life that was on the line, and we all knew how protective they were of each other. Would she really take a risk like this?

To my surprise, there was pride in her voice when she replied. "Good. It seems ridiculous to leave our best student at home because she's down a pair of eyes."

I smiled at her words, though slightly embarrassed at being called out for being the best in front of three of the other students and followed them into the hydroloop.

**2024**

"Is she asleep?" I whispered, noticing that the only sound I'd heard for the past twenty minutes had been the sound of the movie and the video description playing in my headphones. Kieran didn't answer for a moment, but I felt his hand move, letting me know that he, at least, hadn't fallen asleep.

"I think so." He whispered back, amusement in his voice. "Yeah, she's totally out."

"Thank God." When we'd agreed to babysit for Leo and Katherine while they had date night, we'd had no idea how much trouble the two-year-old could be so much trouble. But we'd learned that if the phrase 'curiosity killed the cat' could be personified as a real person, that person would be Charlotte.

"Do you think they're all that crazy?" Kieran asked softly. I hesitated before answering.

"I hope not. But you know, Charlotte's gotta be more trouble than ours will be - she's a Dooley." I mentioned.

"Wait...ours?" Kieran repeated. I felt his shoulders shift as he turned to look at me. I bit my lip, smiling nervously.

"Did I not mention that I'm pregnant?" I mentioned, trying (and failing) to sound nonchalant about it.

"Are you kidding me?" Kieran exclaimed loudly. There was no mistaking the pure joy in his voice, and I smiled at that. But then, there was no mistaking the loud thud that happened barely a second later.

"What?" Charlotte cried, utter confusion in her tone, her voice coming from below us.

"Did she just fall?" I demanded, sitting up. Kieran paused before answering.

"So, that goes to the top of the list of things that I need to remember not to do with our own kid." He joked slightly.

**2038**

"That was amazing, guys." I smiled, turning around when I heard the hydroloop doors open. I smiled widely, proud. "Your first mission was a total success."

"Told you." Dallas teased, walking past me.

"Uncle Adam did most of the work." Valerie complained, walking over to me.

"Did not." Adam retorted.

"Did too." Frank insisted, agreeing with his cousin.

"Did not." Adam grumbled.

"Adam!" I snapped, hoping he'd remember the he was supposed to be the adult. "Guys," I turned back to the kids, "he was supposed to do most of the work. You're still learning. You going on this mission was supposed to be so you can watch and learn, not do everything yourself."

"When can we go on a mission by ourselves?" Valerie complained.

"In a couple of years, maybe." I commented.

"A couple of years!" Frank protested, deeply upset.

"Hey, I was seventeen when I went on my first mission, so you're already farther in your training than I was." Adam pointed out, walking past me. I heard him messing around with a few of the buttons at the mission control station. I sighed.

"Guys, rules are rules. Now, go clean up - Bree and Jaden are stopping by for dinner." I reminded them.

"Fine." "C'mon, Amy." The kids sighed. I shook my head as I heard them leave, the Dalmatian that had been asleep under the mission control station following them out.

"You can relax; they did fine." Adam reassured me after they left. I nodded.

"I know. I could hear you guys on the comms." I'd been super annoyed that Adam had been the one to lead the mission instead of me, but if I was being honest, I was glad it was him. I may have been in charge of the majority of their training, but he was the one who ran the mission simulations - if they were going to listen to anyone on a real-life mission, it was going to be him. "I can't believe they're already going on missions."

"I get what Tasha meant when she said they'd grow up fast." He agreed. He sighed. "Hey, when do Bree and Jay get here?"

"Not for a couple of hours." I replied, shrugging. "Why?"

"You up for a sparring match? I didn't get to punch anything on the mission." He complained. I stopped.

"Adam, the mission was to put out a housefire. What were you expecting to punch?" I questioned.

"I don't know." He admitted. I smirked.

"Besides, you'll never even touch me." I teased, already heading towards the main training area.

"We'll see about that." He argued half-heartedly.


	20. Barry "Arciere" Clarke

**2014**

"I don't really see why we have to go to this thing." Connor complained as we stopped at our lockers. "It should be illegal to make it mandatory to go to school dances."

"They're just making everyone go because they're trying to impress a donor and get him to donate more money to the school." Ian pointed out, leaning against the locker.

"I hope they put some of that money into the basketball team - we could use new jerseys." I mentioned, dropping my bag in my locker.

"Or at least better smelling ones." Connor added with a smirk. I chuckled, agreeing with him.

"It won't be that bad, guys." Ian insisted.

"Says the only one of us with a date." Connor retorted. He looked at me. "We're going to be the only idiots there without a date."

"Not the only ones." I assured him, glancing at a group of nerds and geeks as they passed us by. I smiled a little when I saw the smaller group behind them and recognizing one of them as the defensive midfielder for the girls' soccer team. "And who says I won't have a date?"

Not waiting for a response from them, I pushed through the crowd of students just getting out of class for lunch. "Dani, right?" I questioned, leaning against the locker next to her. "Number 15 on the soccer team?"

"Depends, you a scout?" She questioned, smirking. I chuckled, amused. "Barry Clarke, point guard on the basketball team, 3rd baseman for the baseball team. You want something?"

"You're going to the winter formal, right?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Do I have a choice?" She muttered. She side-eyed me. "Unless you've found a loophole where we don't have to?"

"Afraid not, but it might be a little more fun if I had someone to go with." I mentioned. She looked up, surprised. "C'mon, it'll be fun. It's gotta be better than just sitting around all night, talking superheroes with your brother and his best friend."

"Our best friend, and I happen to like superheroes." She replied, turning to lean on her own locker. She didn't look opposed to the idea yet, but I could tell that I hadn't gotten her quite on board.

"Hey, I do too. Tecton, Solar Flare, Surge, I like them all." She raised her chin, slightly impressed. "But seriously, we've all gotta go, might as well try to have some fun."

She cocked her head to the side, considering it. "Okay." She agreed. I smiled. "But if we end up dancing, I'm going to step on your toes."

"On purpose or by accident?" I teased. She smirked.

"Yes." She replied simply. I laughed, already liking the girl.

"Looking forward to it, then." I grinned.

**2015**

I smiled as I neared the Domain, unsurprised to see my girlfriend there with her brother and best friend - they were always at the comic book store when they weren't at school, what with Dani wanting almost nothing to do with her house and Kaz's place always overflowing with his siblings.

Dani had her back to me, snapping at Kaz for something. The moment he saw me, his smile faded. "Barry!" Oliver greeted much more warmly than his friend. Dani spun around at the sound of my name, eyes alit with surprised excitement. "I thought you were in Colorado."

"I was. We got back a few hours ago." I replied, grabbing Dani by the waist and pulling her close to me. "And I couldn't wait to see my favorite girl."

I kissed Dani softly, aware that her friends were watching. As much as I wanted to go a little further with her, I knew that Kaz didn't like me very much (though I couldn't figure out why), and while I normally couldn't care less what one dude thought about me, I knew his opinion mattered to Dani. Oliver's too. So, I'd play nice in front of them, and just have a little more fun with Dani in private.

"How's your aunt?" Too soon, Dani pulled away from, though she grabbed my hand to stay close.

"She's good, and the trip was amazing." I smiled at her. "I want to tell you all about it. We could grab dinner?"

Dani smiled at me, but it was an apologetic smile instead of her usual grin. "Actually, I'm working tonight."

I frowned, confused. "Really? I didn't know you had a job." I hadn't even realized she'd been looking for one.

"Yeah, I'm working at the hospital. As a candy striper." She explained. "Ollie and Kaz are interning there too."

"Oh, sounds fun." I couldn't really imagine Dani as a candy striper - did the job not consist mostly of bringing patients pudding and do paper work? That didn't really sound like my Dani, but she did like to help people... "Think they have any positions open for me?" At Dani's hesitation, I chuckled. "I'm kidding, of course. I wouldn't have time for a regular job between all my basketball and baseball practices. But good for you, Dani."

"Thanks." She smiled brightly at me. Her smile then widened as she had an idea. "But how about we have dinner tomorrow? My mom's gonna be working, so we can make food at my place, if you'd prefer home cooked stuff."

I smiled. "That sounds perfect." I told her. She beamed and raised her head, asking for another kiss. I complied happily, dropping my head so that my lips met hers.

"Then I will see you tomorrow." She told me when I eventually pulled away. I smiled.

"Alright." I glanced at the others. "See you guys."

I didn't hang around - I figured that her shift must be starting soon, since they were leaving the Domain, and truth be told, I did have to get some shopping done for my mom. I glanced back at her as she waved at me, smiling a little and excited for tomorrow.

Hopefully, this new job wouldn't take away from our time together.

**2016**

"So, you've been keeping this a secret from me for two years?" I questioned, pacing across the kitchen floor. Dani was watching me boredly, her chin resting on her right hand while her left one held her empty smoothie cup.

"Well, closer to one and a half." She correctly softly. I gave her a look. "Not the point, I know."

"And your candy striper job?" I questioned.

"A cover for being a superhero doctor, yeah." She went to take a drink of her smoothie, then made a face when there was nothing left in the cup, even though we both knew that she'd finished it nearly twenty minutes. "Look, I wanted to tell you, especially when we were dating, but-" She cut herself off at suddenly, glancing at the door. I opened my mouth to say something, but she held up one hand, silencing me. As the interior door to her house opened, she licked her lips worriedly.

"Mom?" She called, giving me a warning look to not say anything.

"No, just us." Kaz called back. Dani let out a relieved sigh as he, Oliver, Connie, and Alivia walked in.

"How's your arm?" Dani asked, glancing at Alivia.

"The bone's badly bruised, but thankfully not broken." She replied, dropping into a chair next to Dani and placed a pharmaceutical bag on the counter before reaching for the smoothie. She scowled when she realized it was empty. "You couldn't have gotten me one?"

"You didn't ask for one." Dani reasoned, offended at her annoyance. Alivia rolled her eyes.

"I'm guessing your mom doesn't know?" I guessed, noticing the way Dani had frozen when she thought her mom might be home.

"No, and she can not find out." Oliver insisted.

"No one can find out." Connie insisted.

"But especially our mother." Dani added. "She would kill us."

"She's not that bad." Frankly, I didn't mind Dani's mom that much. Sure she criticized me a lot while we were dating, but she wasn't as evil as Dani made her sound.

"One, yes she is. Two, as I was saying, I wanted to tell you, but there were certain threats made," Dani shrugged, "and long story short, if you tell anyone, we all get turned into Rubik's cubes, and I'm pretty sure that isn't as much fun as it sounds."

"It doesn't sound any fun." I reasoned.

"Then keep your mother shut." Alivia replied. I nodded, biting my lip as I tried to process all of this.

Superheroes freaking existed. That was SO AWESOME! I mean, that meant supervillains also existed, and that wasn't so awesome, but the superheroes bit was pretty badass.

"Okay, so you guys are superhero doctors..." I gestured at Kaz, Dani, and Oliver before turning to Alivia. "You're a superhero?"

"Sidekick." Kaz coughed, smirking a little before crying out in pain. "Ow!" He turned to a now smirking Alivia. "Well, it's true."

"Geminus." She introduced herself. She sent Kaz a glare. "And I'm almost an official superhero."

I nodded before turning to Connie. "And you're...you're not actually a princess from wherever it was that Gus thinks you're a princess from, right?"

Connie laughed at that. "I'm a superhero from the planet Caldera." She replied. "I'm-"

"Skylar Storm." With the way Oliver used to obsess over her, it was impossible to not know her name. Come to think of it, that obsession had definitely gotten a lot less creepy around the same time that 'Connie' had transferred to our school. I'd figured he was just finally out of the superhero crush phase, but I guess there's no need to obsess over someone once they become such a regular part of your life. "Aliens actually exist? Awesome."

"Remember, you can't tell anyone." Alivia cautioned. She looked at the others. "And as far as anyone is concerned, Barry knows nothing, understood."

"You're the boss...sidekick." Kaz teased, only to scowl when she apparently kicked him under the counter again.

"I've got some questions." I told them, leaning on the counter. Dani sighed.

"We're going to be here a while." She told the others, resting her chin on her hand again.

**2017**

I grimaced sympathetically at the wince Alivia made when she brought the icepack up to her head, squeezing her eyes shut for a brief second before opening them again. "How bad is it?" I questioned, offering her a blanket. She shook her head, immediately regretting it as her face paled. "I think you have a concussion."

"I'm fine." The red head insisted, even as she dropped her head into her hand. She glanced up after a moment. "Your mom isn't going to come down here and see us, right? This might be hard to explain."

I chuckled, knowing she had a point. It would be pretty hard to explain why I had an injured superhero in our basement, especially when no one knew that superheroes existed. "She's out of town." I chose not to point out that I'd already told her this, chalking her forgetfulness up to a concussion I was now sure that she had. "You can't keep doing this, Liv."

"Don't worry - I won't spend the night." She assured me.

"I meant trying to take on so many bad guys on your own." I told her.

"There's a lot to take on. Fighting them one at a time would take too long." She bit back a yawn.

"Taking them all on at once is killing you." I told her gently, carefully moving a pillow to one side of the couch.

"There's no one else to do it." She insisted tiredly, leaning back on the couch. I gave her a look.

"Yeah, there is." I replied. "Dani, Kaz, Oliver, and Skylar-"

"Are safe in Illinois. We're not dragging them into this." She gave me a glare, eyes clearing for a moment as she made her point. I sighed.

"I can help." I'd been trying to vigilante thing for a little while now, and while I wasn't arresting nearly the number of people that Alivia was, I was doing pretty okay, I thought. Alivia snorted in amusement, closing her eyes for a moment.

"You're not a superhero, Barry." She murmured.

"I can be." I said softly.

"You don't have powers. You don't have training." She told me, insistently. "You'll just get killed."

"I can't stand by and watch you get yourself killed." I argued. She made a soft noise of disagreement, already half asleep.

"I'm not letting you die, Bear. I've already lost everyone else." She murmured, sinking deeper into the couch. I sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing with her about this now. We'd had the argument before, and there was no getting through to her, especially not when she was too exhausted from being an idiot to even keep her eyes open.

"I thought you weren't going to spend the night." I teased gently, grabbing the blanket again.

"Just...five min..." She never even finished the sentence before dropping out of the land of the living. I sighed and draped the blanket over to her before heading upstairs, intending to let her sleep. I went straight to my bedroom and grabbed my phone off the desk. There was a text on it from earlier, from a friend of mine who worked in the phone company. I stared at the 10-digit number for a long while, knowing Alivia would hate me for this, before deciding that I'd rather her be alive to hate me rather than losing another fight out there.

I dialed the number and raised the phone to my ear. It rang for a while - it wasn't until I looked at the clock did I realize how early in the morning it was - but just as I was about to give up, I heard a particularly annoyed voice growl in my ear.

"Whoever this is, it better be important." I smiled a little at the sound of her voice, having missed it over these past few months.

"Dani, hi." I replied, glancing up at the crimson suit that was hanging in my closet. Alivia may not believe that I was capable of being a superhero, but damn it, one way or another, the next time she went out to fight crime, she wasn't going to be fighting alone.

**2023**

"Okay, now pull back on the draw string." I demonstrated with my own bow, pulling back on the string as far as it would let me. Jordan followed suit, frowning when she realized how hard it was.

"Damn, I didn't think it would be so tight." She commented. I smiled a little as the arrow wobbled. "Hey, why is it doing that?"

"Because you're not pulling it properly." I sighed patiently, slowly loosening my pull on the string so that the arrow wouldn't go flying. Jordan followed suit, biting her tongue in concentration. "Use your back muscles, not your biceps, okay?" She gave me a look. "Just try it."

"Okay." She sighed, doing what I told her. This time, it was much smoother, and she smiled happily. "Now I let go?"

"Aim first." I smirked a little at her eagerness. She raised the bow slightly, aiming the arrow at the target. "Once you think you've gotten it, then release."

She took a deep breath, concentrating, then released her grip. The arrow soared through the air and buried itself in the ground in front of the target. "Damn it!"

"No, it's not bad. It's your first time shooting." I assured her. She looked at me, one hand on her hip.

"Why can't I just use a crossbow like Angela? Or even an axe?" She smirked.

"Because axe's are messy, and crossbows are lazy...do not tell Angela I said that last bit." I added in an afterthought. "Hey, you're the one who wanted to learn to use a weapon. And didn't you say, and I quote, 'Plasma Guns are boring'?"

"Well, talk to Davenport. She keeps making non-lethal weapons." She complained.

"Heroes don't kill." I reminded her. She snorted.

"Tell that to Deadpool." She retorted. I sighed, choosing to ignore my girlfriend's crush on the fictional character.

"Look, Jordan, I think it's good that you're learning to use a weapon. Honestly, Kaz and the twins should have learned the moment they signed up to work at Mighty Med. But if you want me to teach you, the best I know how to work with is a bow and a baseball bat. And baseball bats really don't work against most bad guys." I pointed out. She sighed.

"Fine. Show me again?" She requested. I smiled.

"Alright." I agreed. "Take your bow like this."

She followed my suit, and I had to stop myself from laughing at how cute she looked, her brow furrowed in such concentration.


	21. AJ Henigs

"Whoa." I couldn't help but stare in absolute awe at the room I'd discovered. This certainly wasn't what I had expected when I went looking for the source of the massive energy drain on the building, but it was way cooler than anything I could have come up with.

I looked around, trying to absorb how absolutely incredible the room was. It looked like a secret lair of some mad scientist, what with the crazy advanced technology, and the cool rock walls and nice, almost dramatic, blue lighting coming from the lines in the steel walls. It definitely explained the power drain, but I couldn't explain this. Why did such a room exist underneath our building.

Suddenly, a pair of doors with a weird logo on it (it looked like an EF, but with the E pointing the other way, kinda like a 3) opened up. I quickly ran back into the rocky tunnel I'd entered from and slid between the rocks.

I hid just in time too, because moments later, a couple walked into the room. Both were in their late teens or early twenties, one of them a guy with short, spiky-ish hair and the other a shorter girl with long, brown hair.

"You're overreacting. It was just a joke." The guy was saying. The girl ignored him, heading over to the computer desk at the far side of the room. "Babe, she didn't mean it."

"I don't care. I still don't find it funny." The girl insisted, sitting down at the computer desk. She looked at him. "I'm not a mascot."

"I know that - we all know that. We'd all be totally screwed without you, Calla." The guy - the girl's fiancé, if I had to guess by that shiny ring on her finger - promised her. "She was just joking."

"Well, they've been making a lot of jokes like that lately." 'Calla' reasoned. She sighed. "Just because I don't have powers like them, or bionics like you, doesn't mean I'm not as important to the team."

Powers? Bionics? The second one made sense now - it took me a minute, but I recognized the guy as Chase Davenport, leader of the bionic team from California - but the first one? Were bionics not the only way people could do inhumane things?

"I know. Like I said, we'd be screwed without you." Chase told her, leaning on the computer desk so that their foreheads were almost touching.

"Alright, let's find out what happened to the hyperlift, shall we?" Calla cleared her throat, changing the topic.

"Maybe let's not?" Chase suggested. Calla looked at him.

"Why not?" She questioned. Chase didn't answer, and she leaned back. "Chase, you didn't have anything to do with Skylar getting locked down here, did you?"

"Who, me?" Chase chuckled nervously. Calla leaned back in her seat, staring at him, and opened her mouth to say something.

"Chase Donald Davenport...why is the rock wall open?" Her voice changed when she noticed the rock wall. I froze, then proceeded to squeeze as close as I could to the wall, praying they wouldn't notice me.

"Skylar and Perry must have left it open after they escaped."

Chase shook his head and walked over. Thankfully, he didn't see me as he typed out a code in a key pad. I memorized the numbers before the door closed - 0815 - and smiled to myself, knowing that there was no way I would be able to resist coming back here.

**2017**

I'd just barely walked into what the Elite Force called their 'mission command' when I was suddenly greeted by two blasters of some sort and three harsh glares.

Crap, they weren't supposed to be here. Chase, the control freak of the team, had everything on his calendar, and mission command was supposed to be completely empty until 3.

"Who are you?" Chase demanded as Calla lowered her weapon. I gulped nervously, noticing how Douglas, the only real adult I'd ever seen down here, didn't stop pointing his possibly very deadly weapon at me.

"My name's AJ. I live a floor below you guys." I gulped. Calla frowned, noticing my nervousness, before following my gaze to Douglas.

"Dude, you gonna drop the weapon or are you really afraid of a little kid?" She questioned, moving the barrel of his blaster to point away from me. I let out a relieved sigh as the man realized what he'd been doing.

"Right." He agreed, placing it on the computer desk. "Why haven't we seen you before?"

"I like to keep to myself. A man of mystery, if you will." I started into mission command. Now that I was sure I wasn't about to get shot - Chase and Calla were supposed to be heroes, but from what little I'd overheard about this Douglas guy while eavesdropping on the team, he had a sort of shady past - I figured I should really introduce myself. Maybe they'd let me hang out here, and I wouldn't have to sneak around so much. "But I know all about you guys, the Elite Force." I struck a pose.

"How did you even get down here?" Chase questioned after exchanging looks with Calla and Douglas. "It's surrounded by walls of solid rock."

"Well, I was checking on the building's energy consumption, and I noticed an unusually high drain coming from below the building." I started to explain, only for Douglas to cut me off.

"Wait, you check on the building's energy consumption?" He questioned. I nodded.

"Of course. Gotta keep tabs on all the over-users. The future is green, man." I smiled widely. "Anyway, I used a structural-entometer to scan the area and locate the room. Then I cracked the security code and I've been coming here ever since."

"Ever since?" Chase repeated, staring at me. He didn't look very happy, and neither did Douglas. "How often do you come here?"

"A lot more than you'd like. My parents work a lot," I mentally kicked myself, still having to remind myself a year later that it was just my mom and I now, "so I figured why hang out at a home when I can hang here with all this cool technology. I just had to copy your online calendar so I'd know when to slip in undetected, and make sure to turn off your AI before she could rat me out."

"You copied our calendar?" Chase sounded even more annoyed now, but I was on a role.

"Yeah. Which reminds me, aren't you supposed to be at a dentist appointment right now?" I asked, turning to Douglas.

"He rescheduled it so he could sleep in." Calla told me, giving me a smile. I could tell immediately that she liked me - there was this look of both awe and pride in her eyes that told me I'd definitely impressed the older girl.

"Why are you telling him that?" Chase demanded, turning to her. She shrugged, still looked at me with that smile.

"C'mon, Chase. I mean, I know we should be upset by the massive security breach, but I like this little guy." I smiled at her words. From what I could tell, Chase might be mission leader around here, but Calla was very obviously his weakness. If I could get her to like me enough, I was sure she would convince him to let me hang around Mission Command, maybe even help on missions.

"Alright, time for you to go." Chase decided, ushering me towards the tunnel entrance. I sighed, disappointed. "And I'm changing all the passwords so this doesn't happen again."

"Bye AJ." Douglas called. I sighed.

"Fine, I'll go." I agreed. "But just so you know, I have a photographic memory which means that the schedule's up here too."

Besides, it wasn't as if changing the passwords would actually keep me out. It might take me some time, but I could break in here again. I was sure of that.

"Good to know." Chase shut the rock wall on me, leaving me alone in the dark tunnel. I smiled to myself, already thinking of a few different ways to break in there.

**2022**

I tapped my foot impatiently on the ground, feeling a little nervous. Eventually, though, my mom appeared on the other side of the glass, and I couldn't help but smile in relief.

"Honey." Her voice crackled in the phone, but God, I missed her voice. This wasn't ideal - the last thing any kid wanted to do was have to talk to their mother through a glass window and a crappy phone in a prison - but it was better than nothing. "Oh, it's so good to see you."

"Hi Mom." I smiled at her the best I could. This was the first time I'd seen her since the trial, and I didn't want her to have to worry about me.

"Are you okay? The Davenports are still taking care of you, right?" She questioned immediately. "How's school?"

"School's good, I'm okay. And yeah, I'm still staying with Calla, Chase, and Emily." I chuckled a little. "Emmy's started calling both me and Calla's brother 'Jay', so that's kinda funny. And confusing, whenever he visits."

Mom smiled at the anecdote. "That's sweet, honey." She told me. I cleared my throat.

"So, they're treating you okay?" I asked. She gave me a look.

"I'm okay, AJ. Don't you go worrying about me." She told me, her tone stern. "I mean it. You worry about you, okay?"

"Okay." It was a lie, and we both knew that it was, but Mom didn't press the topic. She started asking me about everything else - school, if I was seeing anyone, if I'd finally figured out why my phone was doing that weird thing...it almost felt normal.

Eventually, I figured I'd get used to this. She was going to be in here for years - not forever, not like I'd feared, but years. And until she got out, this was going to be our new normal. I just needed to get used to it.

**2029**

"I wanna see, I wanna see." Emily whined, pulling at my arm, standing on her tiptoes. I knelt down and unrolled the scroll in my hand so she could read what it said.

"Degree of Science in Computer Science and..." The little girl frowned, then looked up at Chase. "Mole-que-lar?"

"Mo-le-que-ler." Chase sounded it out for her. She nodded.

"Molecular Biology." She finished. She frowned. "What does that mean?"

"It means I went to school and became a really cool scientist." I told her. She grinned.

"Cool!" She leaned over my arm, examining the certificate before looking up at me. "I wanna do that when I'm grown up."

"You weren't this excited when I graduated from college." Spin complained half-heartedly. Emily gave him a look and I couldn't stop the amused smile that came to my face at the amount of condescension on her eight-year-old face.

"You got an arts degree. Science is cooler than art." She told him, the 'duh' going unsaid.

"Emmy." Calla scolded gently. Emily shrugged.

"It's true." She insisted. She looked up at me. "Can I have your funny hat?"

"Sorry sweetie, this one's mine. If you want one, you'll have to graduate from school first." I told her. She sighed.

"Don't sound hard." She replied. Calla let out a soft chuckle.

"Tell me that again in ten years." She muttered before looking at me. "We're proud of you, kid."

"Thanks." I told her. Chase smiled warmly at me.

"Seriously, really good job, AJ." He told me, patting me on the shoulder. I smiled.

"Hey, guys? We should probably get going?" Spin pocketed his phone before taking my hand. "Dani's been texting me for twenty minutes, not so subtly telling me to get all of us back to the Penthouse."

"To the Penthouse?" Chase repeated. He sighed. "They're throwing a party there without telling us, aren't they?"

"Probably." Spin agreed. I chuckled - the rest of the old team had been a little peeved when I told them I was only allowed to invite four people to my graduation, so it wasn't much of a surprise that they'd decided to do something to celebrate on our own. "We should get going."

"Alright. C'mon, sweetie." Chase held out his hand and Emily grabbed it, an eager smile on her face.

"There's a party? Is there going to be cake?" She asked excited, skipping forward and attempting to drag her dad to the car. "Can I invite people? Like Lucy and Charlotte?"

I chuckled as Spin, Calla, and I followed them towards the parking lot.

**2032**

"Alright, let's see what you've got, kid. I don't have all day." Calla declared, walking into the room. I glanced at her, amused to see her wearing a pantsuit instead of her usual jeans and t-shirt.

"Meeting with the board?" I guessed. Calla had a pretty relaxed dress code for the company, so long as we were dressed decently and safely for whatever position we held, so the only times she'd dress up were if she had a presentation or a meeting for the board.

"Ugh, what is with old-timers and their belief that you can't be great at your job unless you're dressed like a high school principal?" She muttered, pulling off her jacket and tossing it onto the couch in my office. "So, you said you had a prototype."

"Check it out." I pulled out a portable keyboard and hit a button on the side of it. A translucent, white, holographic screen appeared above it. Calla nodded, then looked at me.

"Is this it?" She questioned. I nodded. "Okay, portable holo-computer. Pretty cool, I admit - but how is it different than the holo computer in Mission Command?"

"Well, it's smaller, for one. Feel this." I handed it to her. "As heavy as your phone, right?"

"Okay, that is a plus." She admitted. I nodded.

"And not to mention the cost of making it. Even if we sold one of those at cost, the only people that could afford one would be people with your kind of money. This, this we could sell for maybe a thousand?"

"That's it?" Calla frowned. "How'd you cut it down so low? Does it pass safety measures?"

"Yes, of course. First thing I did was go through the checklist." I assured her. "As for the money we saved, I did sacrifice on, performance, processing speed, and storage. It's not terrible - about the same you'd get with your average laptop - but it's nothing like we have in mission command."

"Still...it's basically a laptop, but it's lighter, smaller, easier to bring with you places..." Calla was nodding. She smiled. "Send it to Leo. I want him to take a look at it, but unless he finds any significant problems with it, I want it sent to the manufacturer."

"Seriously?" I grinned. She nodded.

"Oh yeah. This is a good idea. Really good work, AJ." She told me. She glanced at the clock. "Oh, dang. Don't you need to meet Spin for dinner?"

"Not for a couple of hours...how did you...?" I stared at her for a moment before realization hit me. "Chase told you?"

"Of course he told me!" Calla laughed, as if it were obvious. I sighed - that's the last time I ask for his advice about this kind of thing. "Hey, chill."

"Don't make a big deal about it." I begged her. She shook her head.

"First of all, I will make a big deal. I will throw you a goddamn party if I choose to. You know, if Zoe or Jazz don't beat me to it." She laughed, amused before pulling me into a hug. "I'm so happy for you. He'll say yes, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so." I replied. She gave me a look.

"Spin loves you - of course he'll say yes." She assured me. I smiled. "Now, go. Set up whatever has to be set up. Have a great night."

"Thanks, boss." I smirked, grabbing my jacket.

"Hey, AJ?" She called me back just as I started for the staff room. I stopped to see her smiling at me. "I'm so happy for you."


	22. Alan Diaz

**2015**

I sighed irritably, noticing the lights go out in the cafeteria again. There was some sort of weird glitch with the lighting system in here - for some odd reason, the light would go out every twenty minutes or so, without anyone having to turn it on or off. Flipping the switch again would fix the problem, but I couldn't be bothered to get up. It wasn't my problem, after all.

"Hey, c'mon!" I looked up from my coffee mug as three teenagers were shoved into the room by security guards. I looked at them curiously, not recognizing them as any of the interns my uncle had hired, nor were they wearing hospital gowns or superhero uniforms, so they couldn't be heroes or sidekicks either. "We were just screwing around!"

"We saved that guy's life!" The girl protested, annoyed.

"You're wrinkling my shirt." The black-haired guy complained. "Take it easy! My mom just ironed this shirt!"

"What do you think they're going to do to us?" The girl asked, sounding scared. I frowned - no hero would be scared of the security guards, and no villain would have been brought in here. Who were they?

"It says 'Now you die'!" The black haired boy announced. Following his gaze, I could see the faintly glowing outline of the broken sign above the door.

"Do you think they mean one of you, or me?" The brown-haired boy questioned, looking at his friends.

"Well, it says you." The other guy pointed out. I had to stop myself from laughing. Oh my God, these people were idiots.

"Silence!" I shouted into my coffee mug, wanting to have a little fun with this. They all jumped, frightened, so I continued with a smirk. "You have trespassed in my hospital, and for that, the punishment is-"

"Alan?" Uncle Horace walked in then, completely ruining the moment.

"The punishment is Alan!" The brown-haired guy screamed, frightened for a brief moment. Then Uncle Horace switched the light back on, revealing me at one of the tables. Then, after dealing with the busted sign, he turned back to me. "Alan, what are you doing in the cafeteria?"

"Nothing, Uncle Horace." I replied quickly, not wanting to get busted for messing with the teenagers.

"Is that my mug? Send it over." He held out his hand expectantly and I sighed before sending it over to him telekinetically.

"Cool." The brown-haired guy laughed, as if he'd never seen telekinesis before. I looked at him, confused. Who was he? And his friends for that matter? And why did I already not like them?

**2016**

"Wow, my dad must be super-powerful to walk up eight flights of stairs everyday." I breathed in relief as we finally made it to my father's door. It had been a long walk up the stairs, but we were finally here. "I can't believe I'm about to meet my father."

"You nervous or excited?" Dani asked me, her tone gentler than usual. I shrugged, not really sure what to say to that. I guess the answer was both. I wanted to be excited, I really did, but there was a part of me that wondered what he'd make of me. I'd never been the most popular person...anywhere. Would he even like me?

"How do I look?" I asked, trying to distract myself.

"Great." Skylar assured me. I nodded, still nervous.

"Good. Good. Because I am not loving this at all." I added, gesturing at their outfits. It wasn't that they were dressed badly, but teasing them did make me feel a little better. Better enough that I summoned the courage to knock on the door.

After a moment, the door opened, and a tall man with a goatee and light brown curls stepped out. I stared at him, eyes wide as I realized that he must be Nelson. He must be my dad. "Yeah?" He questioned. I opened my mouth to answer, but at the last second, it was as if my mind completely blanked. I had no idea what to say.

"Hi, uh, we're looking for Nelson Gonzalez?" Dani asked, to be sure that he really was my father. He grinned.

"Oh, you guys are here for the couch?" He asked, gesturing for us to come in. "Well come on in, come on in."

The apartment was small and not the cleanest place I'd ever seen, but it wasn't so bad. "We're not here about the couch." I eventually said, finding my voice.

"Oh." My dad looked at me, confused for a moment, before an annoyed look appeared on his face. "Well, if you're here to complain about the chickens, I'm sorry, but I like fresh eggs."

"I don't see any chickens." Dani pointed out.

"Well, it turns out, I prefer eating fresh chickens." My father shrugged. Dani stared at him, horrified, but calmed slightly when Skylar patted her shoulder gently.

"Never mind that. I just wanted to meet you." I told him. "I've heard so many stories about you, all the incredible saving you've done."

He smiled proudly. "It's true. I've never met a coupon I didn't like. That's why I have so many cans of cat food. I don't even have a cat, except for this stuffed one."

At the sight of the stuffed, dead cat my father was holding, Dani let out a tiny cry, spinning around and covering her face as if that would get rid of the animal.

"Speaking of creepy stuffed cats, we should get out of here." Skylar suggested. I stood my ground, not ready to leave. No, this was my father, and I wanted to learn more about him. And if that meant slightly traumatizing Dani, I was okay with that.

"No, I meant the stories about you being a superhero." I insisted, not really wanting to hear more about his fake Normo identity. My father paused, looking at me strangely for a long moment, before nodding.

"So that's why you're here, huh? Well then, let me show you my costume." He sighed before heading to the closet. He was about to open it when he gave Dani a strange look. "Um, is your friend going to stop hiding her eyes any time soon?"

"Not until it's gone." Dani snapped in a high-pitched, distressed voice. Skylar sighed, but reached over and grabbed the dead cat by the tail before depositing it in an empty box.

"It's safe to open your eyes." She assured Dani, who slowly turned around at the alien's words, relief flooding her face. My dad smirked a little before pulling a yellow superhero costume out of the closet. But something about it seemed wrong. It looked cheaply made, and not at all the quality of the suits I'd seen before.

"I can also be a dinosaur, or a clown who's wearing a dinosaur costume." My dad added, grabbing another costume from the closet.

"You're a birthday party planner?" Dani asked. I stared at him, confused for a moment, before the truth dawned on me.

"Oh no, no, no. I only do that part-time. The rest of the time I'm unemployed." My dad reassured us before his phone began to ring. He glanced at it, then at us. "Listen, I gotta run out for a minute. Hey, would you guys do me a favor and go down to the basement and grab my laundry from the dryer? And make sure you clean out the lint trap – I collect lint."

He was out the door before any of us could respond. I turned to face Skylar and Dani slowly. "Well, that was not what I expected."

"Alan, I'm so sorry." Dani told me, her tone similar to when she had to tell Kaz that his favorite show had been cancelled. I looked at her, confused, before grinning widely.

"Why? He's even more amazing than I expected." They looked confused, so I explained. "The dirty apartment, the ugly furniture…he really commits to the whole super-secret identity thing. And I love how he trusts me enough to leave me here alone."

It was the only explanation, really.

"That's because there's nothing here worth taking." Dani commented, glancing around. Skylar sighed.

"Alan, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think your father is a Normo." Skylar told me. I stared at her for a full minute, wondering how she could become such a famous hero while being so stupid.

"What?" I demanded, trying to figure out where she'd gotten such a dumb idea. "That's ridiculous! My Uncle Horace told me that my dad is Optimo, the superhero. Why would he lie?"

"Maybe he didn't want you to find out that your father is really just Nelson, the world's worst chicken egg farmer." Dani pointed out. I shook my head. These two were crazy...right?

"Well, I'm not leaving until I find out for sure." I vowed, intending to find out who my father really was.

**2017**

"Who else?" I questioned, annoyed. I glared at the superhero, arms crossed and genuinely annoyed that it had been over seven months since Mighty Med was destroyed, and I was just now finding out that there had been survivors.

"Crossbow, Tempest, the Defroster...a handful of others." Alivia sighed, pacing with her arms crossed. She didn't seem bothered by my tone. I nodded, ticked off.

"And of course, I'm the last one you came to talk to. I'm always left out of all of this!" I snapped. She stopped and gave me a look.

"I haven't even spoken to half the people on the list." She told me sternly. "And don't act like this is personal - the only reason I went to Crossbow before you was because she was closer. Geographically."

I scowled. Even though I knew she was telling the truth, I still didn't like that she'd already gotten Crossbow on her side, along with one of Kaz, Dani, and Oliver's Normo friends.

"What are you doing here, Geminus? As much as I'm sure my mom is grateful to see me talking to a girl, I somehow doubt that Jaime will be on board with you pretending to be my girlfriend."

I'd expected some sort of witty response, but instead the Irish hero's shoulders dropped slightly, a brief flash of emotion crossing her face before it hardened deeply. I bit my tongue, realizing that she hadn't mentioned Spark yet. "Sorry." I mumbled softly, not needing any more proof than that to know that the electrokinetic hadn't walked out of Mighty Med alive.

"Alan, I..." Alivia sighed before taking a seat on my couch. She looked up at me, lips pressed together in a thin line. "I need your help."

"I don't know where anyone else is." I told her honestly. I hadn't heard from anyone since Mighty Med was attacked. Not Skylar Storm, not my Uncle Horace, not Kaz or the twins, no one.

"No, I..." Clearly, bringing up Spark had shaken her a bit. "Our fathers, they were part of the League of Heroes. As far as we can tell, none of the League survived." She took a breath and looked at me. "This world needs the League, Alan. Someone needs to do their job, carry the torch."

"Okay...what does this have to do with me?" I asked, confused. She cocked her head to the side, smiling a little in confusion at my words. I stared at her. "Wait, you want me on your new team?"

"We belong there. It's our birth rights." She insisted. "No one else belongs on this team more than us."

"Maybe that's true for you, but I'm not the hero type." I reminded her. She gave me a look. "I'm not, ask anyone."

"You want to tell that to Catastrophe?" She questioned. I rolled my eyes, remembering that little incident. It hadn't been the best moment of my life, and I'd hardly done anything heroic. "Look, regardless of how things started, you helped stop freaking Catastrophe, and he was one of the biggest, baddest heroes I've ever heard of. And yeah, maybe you don't have training, but you are powerful, Alan."

"I guess." I muttered. She offered me a smile.

"How about this? You join up with me, Arciere, Crossbow, and whoever else we sign up, and if after a couple of months, you still don't like what I'm doing, I won't stop you from walking away."

I frowned, considering it for a moment. "Fine." I agreed reluctantly. She smiled widely at me, pleased. "If only Uncle Horace could see us now."

"Oh, shoot. You don't know, do you?" She questioned, eyes going wide. I frowned at her, confused.

"Know what?" I demanded.

**2017**

I smiled to myself a little, leaning against the vending machine as I waited to be noticed. It took a couple of moments - he was too busy trying to readjust a picture on the wall that had fallen to notice anything else - but eventually, he turned around. He froze mid-step, staring at me with wide eyes, and I couldn't help but grin.

"Alan?" He demanded, staring at me.

"Uncle Horace." I greeted back, my throat suddenly dry and tight. My uncle stared at me for another second, and then I was enveloped in his arms.

"My boy...I thought you were..." He couldn't seem to find the words. I nodded into his shoulder.

"Yeah. Me too." I muttered before pulling away. "I couldn't find you. I didn't even know you were alive until Geminus."

"Geminus found you? Good, that's good." He nodded to himself. "The last time I saw her, she wasn't...quite herself."

"Yeah. Apparently, Dani talked some sense into her or something." I replied. Uncle Horace looked at me sharply.

"Dani? She survived as well?" He questioned, a look of relief on his face. Oh, I guess he hadn't spoken to any of the others since Mighty Med fell. "What about Kaz, Oliver, and Skylar? Did they make it as well?"

"All alive. They're in Centium City, Illinois, tracking down the people who destroyed Mighty Med." I replied, taking a seat on a bench next to the vending machine. Uncle Horace did the same, looking at me imploringly. "They're working with some bionic people who showed up last year or whatever."

I hadn't actually been there to meet the bionic people - it had been Mom's birthday, if I remembered correctly - but Uncle Horace nodded as if to say he knew who I was talking about. "At least they're okay." He let out a relieved sigh. "I haven't heard from many, but Crossbow, Captain Atomic, and the Defroster are still out there. Tecton, Spark, Clone Master...they didn't make it."

"I know." I nodded solemnly. Alivia had showed me the list of names that Skylar and the others had compiled of the surviving heroes, and it was horrifyingly small. "Dad too."

That one had been one of the hardest deaths to swallow. I'd only just gotten him back in my life, and then he was just gone, again, without any warning. "I am so sorry, Alan." Uncle Horace told me gently. I shook my head, clearing it.

"At least you're okay. Call my mom, by the way. She's worried." I told him. He nodded.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, serious. I nodded. "Are you sure?"

"I'm fine, Uncle Horace." I promised him. He nodded, relieved, and I looked around. "So, you're working in a Normo Hospital now?"

"For now. It was the best job I could come up with." He didn't look totally satisfied with where he was, I had to admit, as he looked around in distain at the badly-colored walls of the grim, little hospital. "At least I'm still able to help people with this job."

"It's not Mighty Med." I mentioned. He sighed and shook his head.

"It's not even close, my boy." He admitted sadly.

**2022**

"Wow." I hummed thoughtfully, looking up at the large wall in the main hall of Mighty Med 2.0. My Uncle Horace was at the end of the hall, watching as Alivia, Lily, Liam, Angela, Ricky, Melody, and I examined every aspect of what he'd done.

"This is..." Alivia, for once, seemed at a loss for words. She was stopped in front of one of the plaques, one hand just barely touching the words etched into them. Looking over, I could see the symbol of a lightning bolt etched into it, the words 'Spark' carved into the base in cursive. "Horace..."

"I thought it was time that we honored them. This seemed like the right way to do that." He said, clearing his own throat.

"There's over two hundred of them." Angela looked shell shocked. Alivia stopped again, this time in front of a plaque with three circles carved into it, side by side. She pressed her lips together before nodding to herself.

"I need some air." She decided, clearing her throat roughly and briefly touching her father's memorial plaque before heading for the exit.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea..." Uncle Horace murmured doubtfully. Lily shook her head.

"No, this is...this is important. No one will forget their sacrifice now." She nodded to herself, looking giving Uncle Horace a thin smile. "She just needs a minute."

She nodded at my uncle appreciatively before heading out after her girlfriend.

"I can't believe it's been six years." Ricky commented, smiling when he saw his former mentor's plaque.

"They'd be proud." Melody said, coming up behind me. She nodded at a plaque to my left. "Especially him."

I followed her gaze, recognizing my father's plaque instantly. 'OPTIMO' was written in small letters underneath a carved image of his dagger of truth. The real dagger felt heavy in its sheath on my hip - Kaz had found it a few months ago after Alivia made him go through his boxes and stop hoarding all the storage room at the base - but I knew she was right. He would be proud of everything we'd accomplished. Of everything I'd accomplished.

I smiled a little, feeling proud of myself.


	23. Douglas Davenport

**1998**

"I can not believe you went behind my back and did this!" Donny shouted, furious as he looked around at my makeshift lab. I sighed, having known that he would react like this.

"You're overreacting." I told him. He crossed his arms and looked at me closely.

"You implanted untested bionic chips into children!" He shouted angrily. In the background, I could hear one of the kids start to cry.

"Great! You've gone and woken up Subject C...Chase." I corrected myself. It had recently occurred to me that just giving them letters for names was probably a bad idea, but I still wasn't used to having to remember their new names. I walked over to the kid's 'crib' while Donny tried to regain control of his emotions. It was really just a small glass capsule, designed specifically to provide support to his bionic chip. I'd already switched the oldest of the three to a standing capsule, and was working on getting the girl used to standing while she slept. By time Subject D (either Daniel or Danielle, depending on what they turned out to be) came around, I was hoping to get Chase in a more advanced capsule as well.

"Douglas," Donny eventually said, struggling to be calm, "why, why would you do something like this?"

"We needed to advance the research." I replied simply, picking Chase up from the capsule. He immediately went quiet, staring at me with big, hazel eyes. I smirked a little as he tried to look around, already curious about everything despite his young age.

"You sure that's why?" Donny asked softly, noticing the look on my face. I sent him a look before quickly returning Chase to his capsule.

"Look, the research needed to go farther, and with kids we can see how the technology will do after long periods of time." I insisted.

"This is wrong, Douglas. How can you not see that?" He demanded. He turned around and started to head for the door.

"This is our technology, Donald." I reminded him, causing him to stop at the door. "You go to the police, and we'll both do time. Just think about that before you do anything stupid."

My brother didn't respond, aside from slamming the door on his way out.

**2013**

" _What? I don't get a nickname?"_ I watched the playful argument from Donny's lab, vaguely amused with their antics. Calla Parker, the assistant that he and the kids were all so fond of, seemed slightly annoyed at the step-brother's lack of nickname for her, but the kids all seemed amused.

"We're just lucky I came down when I did, because he could have discovered all of our secrets." He told the kids, his tone stern.

"Actually, I was down here first…" Parker pointed out. Suddenly, Adam gasped.

"How did you get your IPod back?" He demanded, staring at the broken device in her hands. Marcus smirked and looked up at me, proud of himself.

"Everything went exactly as planned." He told me, handing me the IPad so I could get a better look. I could see the kids clearly, all standing around the cyber computer. Dooley was standing a little off to the side from the computer screen, while Parker was still in her chair, closer to the kids after Donny pushed her out of the way to get a better look at the computer. "The lab was right where you said it would be, and they have no idea that there's a microscopic spy-cam recording their every move. We've got them right where we want them."

Oh, if only Marcus knew. He had no idea why we were truly going after the kids, only that it was important that we did. And that I promised that he could deal with Parker and Dooley – apparently, both of whom had become a pain in the android's ass, and he wanted them gone – however he pleased.

If he knew the real reason why I wanted to get the kids, well, things would be very interesting.

**2014**

Donny and I stopped mid-argument as Adam, Bree, and Chase ran into the room, skidding to a stop as they took in the scene of my lab and the cell I was holding my brother in.

"Mr. Davenport!" Bree exclaimed, eyes wide. I grinned.

"Oh goody! Everyone's here! Party time!" Maybe not the best introduction I could have made the kids, but there wasn't a part of this that was typical, and I might as well show them exactly who they were dealing with.

Marcus followed the kids into the room, earning surprised glares from all three of them. "I've secured the perimeter. They're ours now."

"Mr. Davenport, what is going on?" Chase demanded, looking at my brother in confusion. "Who is this guy?"

"Who is this guy?" I repeated, staring at my son. A part of me wasn't surprised in the least that they had no idea who I was, but I had to admit, I was upset that my brother had never even mentioned me. "Donny, you never told them about me? I'm deeply offended." I turned back to my kids, looking at them carefully to gauge their reactions to what I was about to say. "Adam, Bree, Chase…I'm your father."

Their faces all showed the same mixture of emotions: confusion, shock, disbelief, and doubt. Adam looked like he was trying to figure it out in his head, put the pieces together. Bree was shaking her head slightly, though I didn't think she realized she was doing it, a look of disgust on her face. Chase, meanwhile, looked to Donny for some sort of reaction from him, needing proof, or lack thereof, to comprehend the situation.

"What do you mean you're our father?" Chase demanded when Donny didn't give him the answers he was looking for.

"Yeah, he's our father." Bree insisted, pointing at my brother. I shook my head.

"No. That's what he's been telling you." I told them. It didn't matter what Donny had told them, what lies he'd deluded them with. They were mine, for better or worse, and I wasn't going to let him walk out of here with them.

**2015**

I smirked in amusement a little as Leo pestered Greta, the lady who actually owned the food cart I'd been working at. Clearly, he was trying to prove that she was secretly me in disguise, but to no avail.

"It's okay, Greta." I eventually stepped out of the bushes when the woman threatened the kid. 'They're with me."

Leo screamed in surprise before looking at Greta. "So that's Douglas." He realized.

"Uh huh." She didn't sound pleased.

"And you're a real lady." He concluded.

"Uh huh." She held up the tongs threateningly, and he looked over his shoulder at Donny, Calla, Adam, Bree, and Chase.

"Help me!" He begged in that desperate, scared voice of his. Calla grabbed him by the back of the sweater and pulled him backwards, preventing him from causing any more trouble.

"So, what are you doing here?" I asked, more to my brother than anyone else. If it were just Calla and Leo, I'd just assume they wanted more food. If it were the kids, it'd make sense too. But Donny as well? That didn't add up.

I almost smirked a little as Donny was pushed forward by the kids. "We…um…we were going on a family jog. Leo gets winded on the last mile, so we all have to carry him. Can't go alone. Bye." He tried to get away, but the kids stopped him from running. He sighed and turned back to me. "Okay, I may have been a little harsh earlier."

"A little?" I repeated, remembering our fight earlier.

"Don't push it, you're sleeping in a bush." Calla called, giving me a small smile. I sighed, realizing that egging him on wasn't going to help anything.

"Continue." I told Donny after a moment.

"I realized that everybody deserves a second chance. Even you. So as soon as you apologize for all the things you've done, and say that I'm better than you, maybe you can come stay with us for a while." He told me with a sigh before quickly adding. "If you don't want to, you don't have to."

"No, no, no." While it was pretty obvious that this hadn't been his idea, there was something in his eyes that told me that he wasn't 100% opposed to the idea. Some part of him, however small, wanted me to come home. "It's…clear that you need me. So, I'm sorry and thank you. Now let's go home." I finished when I saw Donny smile. The kids were grinning too, clearly pleased with how all of this turned out.

**2015**

"Morning." I greeted roughly as I made my way out onto the back porch. Donny was already out there, eyes focused on the horizon. "Donny?"

"Oh, morning." He looked up, startled out of his thoughts. He gratefully accepted the coffee before leaning on the railing. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." I admitted, forcing myself not to rub at my broken ribs. He spared me a concerned glance. "I'm fine, man. It could have been much worse."

"Krane could have killed you, Leo, and Calla." He told me, shaking his head.

"But he didn't." I reminded him. I glanced back at the living room. "By the way, any idea why Calla's passed out on the couch with Adam?"

"No clue. But that's not the point, Douglas. This should never have happened. It should never have come this close." He sounded almost haunted by what had happened yesterday, and I didn't blame him. He looked at me before shaking his head. "They could have taken the kids."

"I know." I shook my head, remembering how helpless Leo, Calla, and I had been from the lab, just watching the government agents pour into the house and being unable to do anything about it. "See, this is why I wanted to keep them a secret."

"Maybe you were right." Donny muttered. I glanced at him, surprised.

"You want to go back to locking them up in a lab?" I questioned, a little surprised. He shook his head.

"No, but...I want an option. If this deal with the government doesn't work out...I want them to have somewhere safe to go." He reasoned. "Somewhere the government can't do anything to them."

"Sounds great, but do you actually have a place like that? Unless you've gone and colonized Mars or something." I joked. He shook his head. "What's the plan, Donny?"

"A facility...in international waters. They wouldn't be able to touch the kids. I could make it bigger than the lab, so they wouldn't feel so trapped. Give them an ocean view or something." He nodded to himself, already liking the idea. "They'd be safe."

"It's certainly something to think about." I agreed lightly. Donny opened his mouth to continue telling me about his plans but stopped himself when the doors to the lab opened up. Chase walked, barefoot and still in his PJs. Donny was smart to stop speaking then- even with the door closed, Chase could probably hear us out here, and there was no need to stress the kid out with escape plans that may never be needed. Donny was right to have a backup plan - yesterday was too close a call - but why put more on their shoulders than what already rested there?

Chase didn't seem to notice us outside on the porch though, instead looking at Adam and Calla in confusion. He carefully made his way over to the couch, obviously trying not to wake anyone, before gently draping a blanket over his girlfriend's shoulders. He merely raised an eyebrow in amusement as she rolled over, still completely asleep, before he walked into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

"You may want to make sure there's a couple of extra bedrooms." I mentioned to Donny, amused. "I have a feeling they'll be needed."

**2023**

"Well, you look like crap." I commented loudly, placing a mug of coffee on the conference room table with a loud thud. Calla's head immediately raised off her arm, blinking in utter confusion, with almost zero recognition in her gaze. "Good morning."

Calla sat up straighter, looking around in confusion as I leaned against the table, amused. "What?" She questioned, absolutely amused. I chuckled a little, taking a sip of my coffee as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes.

"Chase called when you didn't come home, asked me to drop by the office early and make sure you were okay." I told her, unable to keep the smirk off my face. She rubbed her face with one hand, still utterly bewildered.

"What time is it?" She questioned, frowning.

"Uh...quarter to five." I replied. She stared at me.

"In the morning?" She demanded. I smirked a little and she shook her head, pulling out her phone. "No, it's not. You're...crap." Her eyes widened fully in surprise at the time. "Seriously?"

"What were you working on?" I questioned, curious. She shook her head and gestured at the piles of documents.

"Patent stuff." She muttered, reaching for the coffee I'd given her. She made a face at the bitterness - there hadn't been much sugar left in the staff room, and she tended to like her coffees really sweet - and continued. "I know the lawyers are supposed to handle most of it, but the idiots screwed up the last few times, and until I can find someone capable of doing the job, I need to make sure it's perfect. I must have gotten caught up in all of it."

"What about AJ? He is your assistant, isn't he?" I questioned. "Don't tell me Donny never made you do stuff like this when you were his assistant?"

"All the time - it's why I'm good at it. But AJ's already stressed out with SATs and college applications, so I gave him a couple of weeks off to handle that. Besides, it's only a couple of nights of extra work." She insisted, yawning tiredly.

"Uh huh." I hummed, shaking my head. Donny had been the same way at this age, back when we first started the company.

"I, uh..." She blinked hard, trying to regain her bearings. "I am going to call Chase and then go change into new clothes. I'll finish this afterwards."

"This is going to take you all day." I pointed out. She opened her mouth to object, then sighed instead.

"Being a CEO is hard, man." She told me tiredly. I smirked a little.

"How about this instead? You do everything you just said you were going to do, plus grab breakfast, and I'll help you out?" I offered. She opened her mouth to object. "C'mon, this is way less boring than half the stuff I have to do as just a board member."

Calla sighed. "Thanks, Douglas."

I shook my head in amusement as she left, already dialing her husband's number. I sat down at the table, glancing at the patent papers and remembering the first time I had to fill these out for the company, nearly 30 years ago.


	24. Donald Davenport

**1999**

I dropped my face into my hands, more exhausted than I'd ever been in my life. I felt as if I'd just run a marathon after pulling two all-nighters to finish a complicated invention. But it was worth it. For what felt like the first time since I'd built the lab, all was quiet.

I raised my head from my hands, suddenly suspicious at the silence throughout the room. After a day of putting out fires caused by heat vision, trying to stop a 2-year-old from super speeding into walls, and then having to calm down the youngest when the older two accidentally triggered his extra sensitive hearing, it suddenly seemed strange for things to be this quiet.

But sure enough, the kids were still asleep in their capsules. I couldn't help but smirk a little at the scene: Adam has standing with his head tipped back, a little drool dripping from his lips, while Bree, still not completely used to sleeping standing up (I had to admit, it didn't look the most comfortable way to sleep, but it was so much better for their bionic infrastructures that I decided that Douglas had been right to have their capsules designed like this), was leaning heavily against the wall of her capsule, face pressed up against the glass wall. Chase, on the other hand, was curled up at the bottom of his capsule, thumb stuck in his mouth.

Alright, so they were really asleep. Good. As cute as I had to admit they were right now, they were three very disruptive handfuls during the day.

God, what was I going to do with them? I'd never expected to be in this position. I was young, I was brilliant, I was good-looking...I should be out dating and changing the world, not stuck in a secret basement lab raising three kids. I wasn't a father - I'd nearly had a heart attack when Chase had started crying 'Ada' earlier until I'd realized he'd been asking for his brother.

God, what was I supposed to do with three kids?

**2012**

I stopped in the doorway, hands on my hips, trying to figure out what the kids were up to. They were all acting like everything was normal - Adam was listening to his IPod, Bree was going through a magazine, and Chase was working on the computer. In fact, it looked like every other day when I'd come home from the office. But the laughter that had abruptly stopped the moment the doors to the lab started to open told me otherwise.

"What's going on?" I asked curious, looking at them.

"Just reading some academic journals." Chase replied, not looking up from his screen. His fingers were hovering above the keys though, and I could see him looking a little nervous in his reflection on the screen.

"Bree's been showing me some pretty girls in magazines." Adam added, grinning just a little too widely.

"They're called models, Adam." Bree corrected, glancing over her shoulder. Adam shrugged.

"And?" He questioned, not understanding why there had to be a distinction.

"Is that all you're doing?" I questioned.

"What else would we be doing?" Bree asked, her tone just a little too innocent. I raised an eyebrow and sat down next to Chase, noticing that the internet symbol on the computer was lit up to say that there was a tab open beneath the document she was supposed to be reading.

"I thought you read this one last week." I observed.

"Rereading it can't hurt." Chase insisted. I hummed, then reached for the mouse. Before he could stop me, I slid the cursor to the internet symbol and opened the browser. I stared at the screen for a second, before looking at all of them.

"You...you signed me up for a dating website?" I questioned, unsure if I should be angry or shocked.

"It was Chase's idea." Bree said instantly. Chase looked at her, offended, while Adam frowned in confusion.

"What? I thought it was your idea." He reminded her. "She said that Mr. Davenport would be in a better mood if he just got-"

"Paid." Bree cut him off midsentence, a panicky look on her face. She glanced at me. "I said paid. You'd be in a better mood if you got paid, which you did, so...congrats?"

"What does that have to do with the dating site?" I mused, knowing fully well that Bree hadn't been talking about money, but also wanting to see the four of them try and get out of this.

"That was...well, I guess that was my idea." Chase sent his sister an annoyed glare, but didn't openly call her out for lying. "I just...thought you might have fun on a date?"

"Uh huh." I hummed. They all looked at me nervously, waiting to see if they were going to get into trouble. "Get changed. We're doing some training in ten."

"Okay." They all replied, heading for their capsules. I turned back to the computer, shaking my head. I knew exactly which movie they'd gotten this idea from - I'd have to keep an eye on what I let them watch from now on. I went to delete the account, then paused, looking at the few matches I'd already gotten.

Maybe this couldn't hurt?

**2013**

"Wait, wait, wait." I smiled a little as Tasha stepped out of the car. She looked at me in confusion, then let out a laugh as I lifted her into my arms. She wrapped her arms around my neck, amused.

"Really?" She laughed, amused.

"Please, I may not be exactly like those guys in those chick flicks you made me watch, but I can occasionally sweep my lady off her feet." I told her. She laughed, amused.

"What about the bags?" She questioned as I carried her towards the door.

"Leo can get them." I assured her, glancing over my shoulder to see that he had already started grabbing them. I stopped at the door, grateful that Calla had left it unlocked after coming in to do her work. "You ready, Mrs. Davenport?" I teased. She smiled, dropping a hand into her lap while running the fingers on her other hand through my hair.

"I'm ready, Mr. Davenport." She assured me. I pushed the door open, carrying my new wife into our home.

"Welcome to your new home, Mrs. Davenport." I told her, spinning her around before settling in a position where she could get a better view of the house. Instead, she wrapped her arms around my neck once more, smiling at me.

"Why thank you, Mr. Davenport." She told me, raising her chin for a kiss.

"Absolutely, Mrs. Davenport." I told her, kissing her.

"We get it; you got married! It's getting old!" Leo interrupted us, ending the passionate moment too soon. I sighed and gently set Tasha down on her feet before grabbing my bags from where Leo had dropped them on the ground.

I smiled as he examined the room, his eyes alight with excitement. I could already tell that he was going to like it here. Now, I just had to figure out how this was going to work with Adam, Bree, and Chase in the lab. I couldn't keep it a secret forever, I knew that, but I wasn't entirely sure how to broach the subject.

It was going to be interesting, that was for sure.

**2016**

I smirked a little to myself, watching as Calla and Adam gathered as many of the students as they could into the training area of the Academy. All the students looked so eager, most of them chatting in groups.

"Notice which ones are right at the front. You can tell which ones are more enthusiastic about getting started." Calla murmured to Chase as they all joined me on the upper steps of the room. Following their gaze, I saw Leo, one of the youngest students, and a few of the students that the kids had been hanging out with recently. I had a feeling they would quickly become some of the top students, so I would have to keep an eye on them.

I smiled, then stepped forward to address the students. "Hello, and welcome to the world's first Davenport Bionic Academy!" I announced proudly. Ever single one of the students burst into applause.

"When do I get to throttle people?" The smaller student next to Leo called.

"Hey! We don't throttle people, Mighty Mouse." Leo scolded.

"Leo's right. You're not soldiers, you're students." I said firmly, agreeing with him. "Now, I know you've had it rough and you're still adjusting to the outside world, but we're here to help. You see, this facility is here so you can train your bionics in a safe space, and develop into the heroes you see before me."

I looked out at all the kids, gauging their reactions to this. Every single one of them looked excited at the prospect of becoming a hero. They wanted to be like Adam, Bree, and Chase, and I could hardly blame them.

They weren't going to be soldiers, not like Krane had wanted them to be. and that was the important part. They would have options - I knew most of them would choose to become heroes like Adam, Bree, and Chase, but Calla and Chase's insistence on including aspects of a typical, academic education would leave their options open for other types of lives if they wanted something else. Despite everything that Krane had wanted, these kids would have a choice in what happened to them.

**2017**

I smiled a little, spotting Adam, Leo, Jaden, and Rose out in the waiting room. Rose was nose deep in a magazine, looking up occasionally to show Leo something from the magazine, interrupting whatever it was that he was doing on his tablet. Adam and Jaden were side by side, watching a football game on one of their tablets.

I pushed open the doors with my shoulder, clearing my throat as I entered.

"Who's ready to meet their baby sister?" I asked gently, careful not to wake the sleeping bundle in my arms. Naomi was fast asleep already, lips puckered as she dreamed of God knows what.

"Oh my God." Leo beamed at Naomi when he saw her, eyes a lit with excitement at the sight of his first younger sibling. Adam was grinning just as wide.

"Oh, she's gorgeous." Rose smiled - wow, this was the first time I'd ever seen her happy while in my presence. "You said you were naming her Naomi?"

"Naomi Davenport." I confirmed, smiling proudly at my daughter. My daughter, that felt a little strange to say. No offense to Bree - she was my princess and I absolutely loved her, but Naomi was the first one that was truly mine right from the start. The first one I didn't have to worry about anyone taking away from me, not Douglas, not the government, no one. I hadn't started really parenting Adam, Bree, or Chase until Tasha and Leo had come along. Now was my chance to try and do things right. Wait, speaking of my other kids... "Hey, where are Bree and Chase? And Calla and Douglas?"

"We already called them and sent Kieran and Rio to get Bree and Chase." Leo explained, glancing away from Naomi for a moment. "Calla and Douglas are going to come on the private jet some time tomorrow, after they make sure the team's settled back in Centium City."

"They're going to be sorry they missed this, though." Adam added, making a face at Naomi even though she was too asleep to see it. I chuckled a little, then looked back down at my little girl, still unable to believe that she was really mine.

**2027**

"This is borderline abuse." Adam laughed a little, watching the scene in the kitchen in amusement.

"No, no. It's cute." Rio assured him. Bree smiled a little.

"If Noah didn't like it, he'd speak up. Trust me." She insisted. I smirked a little, watching as Emily forced her cousin to sit still while Charlotte put hair clips in his long locks. The two had teamed up the moment Emily, Calla, and Chase had walked through the doors, determined to make Noah 'look pretty' as they had put it. Judging by the giggles the two were unable to keep to themselves, they clearly knew that he looked more funny than attractive, but didn't seem to be bothered by that fact.

Noah, for his part, didn't seem to hate it as much as one would have thought. In fact, he was laughing as much as the girls, even though I could see him pulling out hair clips whenever they weren't looking.

Naomi was over by the tree, trying to pretend that she wasn't trying to figure out what she'd gotten for Christmas. Frank kept giving her away, the three-year-old calling her name every time she grabbed a gift.

"They're just like you two." I told Leo and Calla as I walked into the living room, carrying in the hot chocolate I'd gotten for Tasha and myself.

"We know. It's a problem." Katherine agreed, not looking up from where she and Jaden were playing with little Justine, the fifteen-month-old shoving a colored block into her father's hand every so often as she attempted to make some sort of strange structure with it.

"It's not a problem." Calla insisted, giving Katherine a look.

"I wouldn't speak so quickly, honey. Just you wait - if those two end up being close friends in the future, we're all in trouble." Chase told her. Calla smirked in amusement. "You think I'm kidding? Ten bucks says Char convinces Emmy to make her a bionic chip or something by time they're out of middle school."

"She wouldn't be able to make one." Tasha insisted. Calla and Chase exchanged looks. "You seriously think she'll be able to?"

"I guess we'll see." Calla replied, smiling a little. She looked around. "God, when's the last time we've all been in the same room together? It feels like it's been ages."

"Last Christmas, I think." Leo commented, thinking.

"No, no. There was a conference for the Coalition and I had to miss it. It was last Thanksgiving." Chase corrected.

"Well, thank goodness for Christmas for bringing everyone back together." Tasha replied.

"Here, here." I agreed whole heartedly, smiling at the sight of all my family back together again.


	25. Horace "Caduceo" Diaz

**1766**

"So, what do you think?" I questioned, walking through the doors to the hospital. My sister looked around, vaguely curious. "Well?"

"It's...nice." Mari replied. I gave her a look. "It's a hospital, Horace. How is this any different than the one they're building down the road?"

"Because it's for us. People like us, with powers. People who want to do some good in the world." I explained, looking around the emergency room in awe. Mari gave me an amused look.

"There aren't many people like us. You can't save everyone, Horace." She told me kindly. "And not everyone lives as long we do."

"That doesn't mean we shouldn't try and keep them alive as long as we can." I pointed out. She looked at me, curious for a moment, before realization crossed her face.

"This is a mid-life crisis." She realized.

"No, it's not." I told her. She gave me a look that clearly told me that she didn't believe me. "Mari, I'm sick of sitting on the sidelines. I may not have offensive abilities that can shoot villains out of the sky, but I can heal people. With or without using my powers. Every hero has a purpose, don't they? What if this is mine?"

She bit her lip, smiling a little before she nodded. "Alright." She said slowly. "I see your point."

"Good. Because the people funding this place have already put me in charge." I told her. She turned around slowly, taking in the place.

"They're not funding it much." She observed. I had to admit, she was right. I barely had any equipment at my disposal, and it was clear that this place wasn't much more than a few rooms, a surgical suite, and a waiting room. "It's going to take some work."

"I've got the time." I replied. She rolled her eyes and I smiled proudly. "No, really. I'm going to make this place something special. You'll see."

**2015**

I frowned to myself, a little surprised by what I'd just been told by the security team and the nurses on duty in the ER. No normo had ever managed to even find Mighty Med, let alone get into it, and yet, the first time they do, they manage to save a hero's life? It was unfathomable.

I pushed open the door to the cafeteria, where the security team had deposited the three Normos, and was even more surprised to see that my nephew was in there, attempting to scare them. "Alan?" I demanded as I entered.

"The punishment is Alan!" One of the Normos - a boy with light brown hair - screamed, scared. I rolled my eyes and switched on the light, before realizing that the sign above the door was glitching again.

"Stupid sign!" I muttered to myself before hitting the wall, the blow fixing the glitch so that it read the proper phrasing once more.

"Oh, know your diet facts. That's far less scary." The brown-haired boy breathed in relief. I glanced at the so-called Normos before deciding to deal with my nephew first.

"Alan, what are you doing in the cafeteria?" I questioned. He shrank back, knowing that he was supposed to be in one of his private lectures.

"Nothing, Uncle Horace." He mumbled.

"Is that my mug? Send it over." I recognized it instantly. Alan sighed and sent it my way telekinetically, not even bothering to get out of his seats. I heard one of the Normos laugh in amazement, and I turned back to them and showed them the mug. "'World's Sexiest Chief of Staff and Vice Chancellor of Medical Administration'. I bought this at a gas station - what are the odds?"

I placed the mug down before addressing them directly. "I'm Dr. Horace Diaz, head of this hospital. Who are you and what can you do?"

I didn't really believe that they could be Normos. There was no way a Normo could get in here, and besides, what Normo would know enough about the Crusher to be able to save his life faster than my employees?

"Well, I'm Kaz." The other boy, this one with dark hair, introduced himself, "and I can do this." He grabbed a tissue out of a nearby box and covered his face in it before tearing a hole in it with his tongue. I stared at him, a feeling of dread coming over me.

"Anybody can do that. I meant, what are your powers?" I questioned, hoping it was just some sort of misunderstanding.

"We don't have any powers." The girl confirmed my worst fears. Alan leapt to his feet, stunned.

"WHAT?" He demanded loudly. "You're Normos! Normos can't know about Mighty Med! I'm going to get a Normo cage!"

"Not so fast." I raised my hand, freezing him in time for a moment. This was a peculiar situation, and had to be handled sensitively.

"Can you teach me how to do that to my mother?" The girl questioned, smiling a little when she saw what I'd done to my nephew. I looked at her curiously for a moment, always amused by Normo's fascination with superhuman gifts, before looking at the others.

"The Crusher is one of our most important heroes, and you saved his life. How did you know that his heart wasn't in his chest?" I questioned.

"Well, I thought that the super-gravity on Embreyon might have pulled his heart down to his feet." The brown-haired boy explained. I nodded thoughtfully - yes, that would make sense.

"That's very clever. You figured that out faster than our best doctors, even Dr. Brainhead, and his entire head in a brain." I told him sincerely. Clearly, this young man knew quite a bit about our people - perhaps that could come in handy.

"Well, we pretty much eat, drink, and breathe superheroes." The girl told me, grinning.

"Literally. This morning I had a bowl of Honey Nut Blue Tornado Os." The boy added. I grinned - not only did he know his stuff, he was also an enthusiast.

"A true fan. I love this guy!" I exclaimed. "We might be able to use somebody like you around here."

"What's that noise?" Kaz questioned suddenly. Frowning, I realized that he was talking about the muffled sounds coming from Alan's frozen body.

"Oh, right. Alan." I remembered, snapping my fingers to unfreeze him.

"We can't have Normos here! I heard that if you touch them, your butt falls off!" He argued.

"That's not true!" I reassured him before looking at the Normos for reassurance. "That's not true, is it?"

"Um, no." The girl assured me.

"Oh, good. Because without a butt, what would I shake on the dance floor?" I asked. The girl gave me a weird look, but was soon distracted by Kaz messing around with one of the pieces of equipment in the room.

"SO, you want us to work here?" The brown-haired boy questioned.

"Not us, you. Your friends seem a bit...off." I glanced at his friends. This boy seemed to know what he was doing, but the other two...they didn't quite seem like they belonged here. It didn't help that, whilst playing with a piece of complicated and delicate technology, Kaz accidentally replaced his hand with a chainsaw. Their excitement after the fact further told me that I'd made the right decision in only choosing to hire just the one. "I think they just proved my point. You, with me." I looked at the other two. "You two, do you happen to know if you take small or medium Normo cages?"

"What? No! We want to work here too!" Kaz argued. The girl nodded.

"We just just as much about superheroes as he does! Right Ollie?" She looked at her friend for validation.

"Yeah, back us up, man." Kaz agreed.

"Yeah, they're great." 'Ollie' put his arms around their shoulders. "And we're a package deal."

I hummed thoughtfully, considering it. This kid would be an invaluable asset to the hospital. Losing him like this would be a mistake. And perhaps his friends had just not had the chance to prove themselves yet.

This was a crazy decision, I knew that. Not once in Mighty Med history had Normos ever been brought into the equation. The superhero community wouldn't like it. But I had a feeling that these kids would do great things here, if given the chance.

"Okay, I'll give you kids a trial run." I decided.

**2016**

I sighed deeply to myself as I made my way through the hall of Mighty Med, feeling exhausted and drained. Today was supposed to be one of the best days of my life, and yet it had turned out so awful. I'd just finished cancelling the honeymoon I'd been planning - a trip to Florence to see the Ponte Vecchio - and I wanted nothing more than to go to bed and pretend today had just never happened.

I paused briefly as I passed the rec room, noticing that a light was still on. Frowning, I gently pushed the door open a crack, not wanting to disturb anyone. Dani was lying on her stomach on the couch, one hand grazing the ground as she slept. Kaz was passed out in one of the chairs across from her, feet up on the arm of her couch and his phone lying in his lap.

Oliver, on the other hand, was wide awake, sitting sideways in his chair with his legs dangling over one of the arms as he listened to music and played some game on his phone. He looked up as I opened the door, confused. I jerked my head towards the hall, and he slowly got out of his seat, careful not to wake his sister or friend.

"What are you still doing here?" He asked with a yawn, pocketing his headphones.

"Finishing some last-minute paperwork." I lied, frowning at him. "Why are you awake?"

He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. Dani took the couch, and I have no idea how Kaz managed to fall asleep in that chair."

"I'm sorry, if there were any more beds left, I'd offer them to you two. We'll bring in some cots or something tomorrow." I promised him. He shrugged again.

"It's fine. I get that it's short notice." Oliver assured me. I nodded towards a door at the end of the hall.

"You want to grab something to eat?" I suggested. "The cafeteria is open 24 hours."

"Kaz made us grab some fries on our way back." Oliver assured me. I nodded, silently thanking Kaz's sense to make sure the twins ate, seeing as the reception dinner clearly hadn't been at the front of anyone's minds after everything that had happened.

"Are you alright?" I asked bluntly. Alan had always been rather easy to deal with emotionally - usually just distracting him with something else worked rather well - but Oliver was a completely different case. Dani too, but she would go to Alivia if she needed comforting, and somehow I sensed that Oliver would take it worse. He and Bridget were closer, after all.

"I'm fine. I just...I can't believe this is all real, you know?" He sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"I'm sorry." I didn't really know what else to say to him. I wasn't sure what would make him feel better or what would make him feel worse. Hell, I wasn't sure what could be said about this that would make me feel better or worse. "I-"

Thankfully, I didn't have to say anything. The door to the rec room opened up and Kaz poked his head out. "Oh, hey Horace. I kinda...crashed here."

"I can see that." I replied. The invitation to stay at Mighty Med had only been extended to the twins, but I wasn't surprised or bothered by the fact that Kaz had stayed as well.

"What're you doing up?" Oliver questioned. Kaz held up a can of whip cream that he must have gotten from the fridge.

"Do you think if I spray this on Dee's face, she'll wake up?" He asked simply. Oliver and I stared at him for a moment.

"...Yes." Oliver answered after enough time had passed to determine that Kaz was, in fact, serious.

Kaz grinned. "Cool." He replied before closing the door. Oliver glanced at me, then back at the door.

"I should probably go stop that." He decided.

"Probably." I agreed. He gave me a smile then headed into the rec room after his best friend. I chuckled as the sounds of roughhousing started to come from the room.

Who was I kidding? Oliver would be fine - and if he wasn't, I had a feeling Kaz would be there.

**2017**

I tapped my foot impatiently, waiting for someone to pick up the phone. I hadn't been surprised when Dani didn't pick up – busy or not, she rarely answered calls from numbers she didn't recognize – but Oliver was usually quick to answer the phone.

" _Hello?"_  Eventually, Kaz picked up, sounding slightly distracted. In the background, I could hear the sound of blaster fire, so either he was in the middle of a fight, or, more likely, he was playing some video game.

"Kaz." I greeted with a smile. There was a long moment where Kaz didn't say anything, then I heard the background noise pause as well.

" _Holy crap."_  I heard him mutter, and I couldn't help but chuckle.  _"Horace?"_

"Do you want to explain to me why I've only just recently discovered that the four of you are alive? Mighty Med was destroyed months ago!" I exclaimed, slightly frustrated with the kids. Admittedly, it wasn't their fault, but it would have been nice to know that they were okay.

" _You're alive."_  Kaz said in response, sounding in shock.

"I've lived for over 3,000 years – did you really think a softball team's worth of shapeshifters was going to kill me?" I questioned rhetorically.

 _"Holy crap."_  Kaz said again, clearly still processing this. I heard him shout Skylar's name before he finally said something of substance.  _"How are you alive? We...we searched the ruins for survivors."_

"I got lucky. As did Geminus, though I understand you're already aware of that." I commented, a little surprised that the Irish hero hadn't told them I was alive.

 _"Yeah, we found out a couple of weeks ago. Haven't talked to her in person yet."_  He explained. I heard some noise in the background.  _"Hey, Skylar, guess who I'm on the phone with."_

There was a pause as he waited for her to respond.  _"No, I talked to my mom yesterday...Yes, I know it was a joke."_  I chuckled in amusement at their bickering.  _"Dude, it's freaking Horace...I'm serious."_

 _"Hello?"_  A moment later, Skylar's skeptical tone came on over the phone.

"Well, good to see nothing has changed between you two." I mused, remembering how the two of them had always seemed to enjoy fighting with each other.

 _"Oh my God."_  Skylar gasped, not having believed Kaz until this moment.  _"You're really okay?"_

"I'm okay." I assured her. "And thank goodness you four are as well."

**2019**

"How many times were you hit in the head?" I questioned, shining a light in Dani's eyes. She winced a little at the sudden brightness, making a displeased face at the tiny flashlight in my hands.

"Um...three, maybe? I didn't really keep track." She admitted before looking at me with tired eyes, one of them already surrounded by dark bruises. "Really, I'm fine, Horace. I just want to go h...I just want to go back to the Penthouse."

"Kaz was right about making you get looked at. I'm pretty sure you have a mild concussion." I told her. She frowned but didn't say anything. "Though, I am surprised that the boys aren't the ones checking you out."

"Kaz wanted to be sure, and Ollie..." She licked her lips nervously. "Ollie hasn't said a word to me since they broke me out of mom's facility. Most of them haven't, actually."

"They'll come around." I assured her. She shook her head, then winced, regretting it.

"No, they won't. They hate me, and I don't blame them." She admitted.

"I am sure they do not hate you." I told her patiently.

"You're as bad as Kaz." She muttered. I smiled a little, glad that at least one of the boys were on her side. I hadn't been thrilled when Alivia had told me about the plan with Dani, but it had been necessary. Thankfully, Kaz seemed to see that, even if Oliver was still upset with his sister. "You didn't see the look on Ollie's face, Horace. I've seen him mad before, but this was something else."

"It's going to take him time, but he'll forgive you." I told her. She didn't look reassured. "You just need to earn their forgiveness."

"How?" She asked, looking at me, eyes genuinely asking me for help. She was biting her lip tightly, eyes watery.

"What did Skylar do when she was trying to earn everyone's forgiveness for turning evil?" I asked her. She frowned.

"She was basically super nice to everyone, and went out of her way to help them." She remembered. She cocked her head to the side, thinking about it. "Do you really think that'll work?"

"It can't hurt." I replied. She nodded.

"Okay, yeah. I can try that." She decided. She gave me a small smile. "Thanks Horace."

I smiled back at her. "Alright. Avoid screens and bright lights, and try not to do anything strenuous." I quickly scribbled down a prescription for something that would help with the symptoms. "And since I know you're going to ignore everything I just said, take one of these twice a day for the next week."

Dani rolled her eyes. "Got it, Dad." She replied sarcastically, taking the paper from me and climbing off the exam table. I smirked a little in amusement, glad to see that everything that had happened hadn't completely crushed her spirit.

**2034**

"He's pretty good." I admitted, watching as the teenager Alan had brought me healed a deep cut on Tempest's arm. Alan nodded thoughtfully, also watching as Felix did his work. "Where'd you say you found him?"

"Crappy foster home in Memphis." Alan replied with a shrug. "The parents were sending him back to an orphanage anyway - something about not being able to support 3 kids plus a baby or something - so they didn't have an issue with us taking him in."

"How good is he? Do we know?" I wondered. All powers had their limits, and I'd rarely seen a healing ability without a limited number of times or range of abilities.

"Dani and Kaz have been testing him in the base's medbay. He can close wounds like it's nothing, but anything more than that he just speeds up the healing process. Tires him out too." Alan replied, arms crossed. "We thought with a bit of training though, he'd do pretty well here."

"And you want me to train him?" The idea still seemed crazy. "Alan, I've never had a sidekick before."

"So?" He questioned.

"I'm not good with kids. I wouldn't even know what to do with him." I protested. Alan gave me a look.

"You're not good with kids?" He repeated. I nodded.

"They're weird little things with grabby little fingers." I insisted. Alan rolled my eyes.

"He's fifteen." He told me. I raised an eyebrow. "C'mon, he's older than I was when you took me in, and I turned out okay."

I glanced at him. "Well, yes, but..." He raised his eyebrows at me, and I smiled. "Alright. I'll do it."

"Awesome." He grinned. "Hey, Felix. Come here for a second."

The young man ran over, leaving Benny to finish bandaging the now miniscule wound. I had to admit, he reminded me a bit of Alan back when I'd first brought him to Mighty Med - a little shy, but excited to be here.

"Felix, my name is Dr. Horace Diaz." I smiled at the young boy. "Welcome to Mighty Med 2.0."


	26. Lily "Scarlet Ace" Michaels

**2017**

it was around 2 in the morning by time I'd finally returned to the tiny, dirty apartment I was currently sharing. I hoisted my bag over my shoulder and unlocked the door, being careful to be quiet as I came in. Spotlight was lying on the couch, seemingly asleep. At least, that's what I thought until I tried to get past him on the way to the tiny bedroom I'd claimed a month ago when we moved into this place.

"You find anyone?" He mumbled, sitting up. I sighed, and, not looking at him, shook my head. "It's a waste of your time, Lily. There's no one left to find."

"You don't know that." For the first few weeks, he'd been optimistic like me, also believing that there had to be more survivors out there. But over the past few days, after not finding any proof at all that anyone else had gotten out of the hospital alive, it was like he had given up. "We can't be the only ones."

"Then where are the others?" Liam looked at me, annoyed. I sighed - this was why I didn't tell him when I was going out to search. It only caused arguments. "Tell me, where are they? Because as far as I can tell, we're the only ones left."

"I'm not giving up. Even if you have." I told him, annoyed. I genuinely liked Liam - he was a good guy and a good friend - but this attitude was starting to get on my nerves.

"Whatever, Lily." He muttered, rolling over on the couch. I shook my head and stalked off to my room.

I didn't care what he said - the superhero aspect of the super world was not over. There were some of us left and even if there weren't many, that still meant there was something left to fight for. Someone just had to convince him of that.

**2017**

"How is this not interesting to you?" I questioned, kicking my legs a little as I watched Liam refill the coffee grinder. I held up the newspaper so he could see. "Girl in Portland Freezes Pond with her Bare Hands." I read the outline before grinning at him. "Totally a superhero."

"Totally a fake." He mimicked my excited tone before rolling his eyes. "The last three headlines you showed me were fakes."

As much as I wanted to argue that, I knew he was right. In my search for more heroes like us left alive after Mighty Med's fall, I'd encountered more than my share of hoaxes. But some of these had to be real, and I had a special feeling about this one. "It doesn't mean this one is."

"It does, actually." He told me before going to handle a customer. I rolled my eyes, watching the exchanged. As soon as the lady was gone, I sighed and brushed my hair behind my ears. "Who drinks coffee at 12 in the morning?"

"Old people, midnight drivers…I used to grab a coffee at 24-hour coffee shops like this if I was out late working." He reasoned.

"You went to Starbucks at midnight?" I teased, heading towards the backroom. He followed me.

"No way, Tim Horton's." He insisted. I rolled my eyes – I'd already been given the speech about how it was cheaper and better than Starbucks' stuff.

"Canadian!" I accused lightly. Liam gave me a look.

"Dude, you can't make fun of me for being Canadian while we're in Ontario!" He shook his head at me. I laughed and handed him a water bottle.

"So, you want to hit up a McDonald's before we head home?" I had this weird craving for chicken nuggets that just would not go away. He was about to respond when we heard the bell above the door chime, letting us know that we had a new customer. "Oh, c'mon. It's two in the morning!"

"I got this one." Liam assured me, rolling his eyes as he headed for the counter. I stepped into the doorway of the breakroom, watching as a couple about our age – one, the blonde-haired jock type, while the other was a redheaded woman. "What can I get you…"

I frowned, noticing the tone in Liam's voice change. The red head smiled. "Well, for starters," she declared in a pretty Irish accent, "we'll have a couple of white chocolate mochas, and then maybe we should talk."

"Gem? Geminus?" Liam seemed stunned. I stepped closer, a little confused and concerned. I'd heard that name before, I was sure of it, but I couldn't quite place.

"It's good to see you again, Spotlight. It's been a long time." The redhead replied with a smirk. I glanced between her, Liam, and the blonde guy.

"Hey…" I said slowly. The couple looked at me, suddenly realizing I was here.

"Oh, hey. Lily, meet Barry Clarke and Geminus, former sidekick to Clone Master." Liam said slowly, clearly still processing. And now I understood why. This was proof of everything I'd been saying. That we weren't the only survivors. That we weren't alone. "Gem, Barry, this is the Scarlet Ace."

"Lily." I corrected, smiling at them. "Hi."

"Hi." Geminus replied, smiling back.

**2017**

"Alright, so Liam and Rani just got to Mighty Med 2.0." Alivia announced, walking into the common area of the hotel room we'd all gotten. I was all alone in the room, having sent the others out to celebrate our victory while our leader was gone. "Depending on how serious Rani's arm and rib injuries are, they could be there a couple of hours. And, according to my contact at UPSEI, Gulliver, Rune, and Riker are behind power-dampening bars."

"Where they belong." I added with a smile, relaxing into the couch cushions. Alivia smiled before looking around in confusion.

"Um, I think we're missing a few team members." She mentioned. I laughed a little, amused by the concern in her voice, before patting the couch seat next to me.

"They would out to celebrate." I explained. She smiled, taking a seat next to me.

"How come you didn't go?" She questioned. I crossed my legs, shrugging in an attempt to make this seem more relaxed.

"I thought I'd keep you company." I answered easily, though my mind was trying to figure out how this would all play out. That had always been my problem with asking girls out – I always overthought it before I did it. Alivia smiled.

"Maybe we should go out. Celebrate too." She suggested, sounding excited by the prospect. I smirked, hoping that meant she was excited about celebrating with me, rather than just celebrating in general.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you about tha-" I stopped myself as her phone went off, silently cursing my luck. This was the third time I'd tried to talk to her about this, and something was always interrupting us.

"Sorry." She apologized, checking the caller ID. She frowned. "Huh, Skylar."

"Don't answer it." I said quickly, nervously. She looked at me, a little surprised, but didn't argue it. Skylar Storm had an entire team to back her up if she was in trouble, and if she really needed help, she would call Barry or Liam next. She didn't absolutely need Alivia this moment. "Please?"

"Alright. Why though?" She asked, putting her phone away. I sighed, trying not to let my frustration show.

"Because, I keep trying to have this conversation with you, and every time I do, I keep getting interrupted." I explained. She smirked a little, a playful gleam in her eyes. "Anyway-"

"Interrupted?" She asked, cutting me off. "You mean like this?"

Before I could even get the chance to be annoyed, she leaned forward, one hand pulling my head close as her lips crashed into mine. I kissed her back, too surprised at first to do anything else, but eventually pulled away.

"Well…that kind of interruption I don't mind," I laughed lightly, blushing deeply. She laughed back. "But…Wait, are you sure-"

"Nope." She was smiling widely, despite her words. "I'm not sure about anything really, except that I like you and you like me, and we deserve this. And to be honest, that's all I really care about right now."

I smiled, blushing deeper. "I couldn't agree more." I told her, leaning in to kiss her again.

**2021**

"They're gone." Rani assured us, sinking back against the wall. We all held our breath still, convinced that the guards could come back any second. We were so close to freedom, and we'd just narrowly avoided being recaptured – no one wanted to take any unnecessary risks.

"Are you sure?" Taylor questioned. Rani nodded, closing her eyes. It was then that I realized how pale she was. Her hands were shaking too, though I didn't think she noticed.

"That spell should have told me how many people were here. I only felt us." She murmured. Bree nodded.

"Be on guard." She told us. I glanced worriedly at Rani as Liam went to help her, frowning when she brushed him off. He sent me a confused look – as if I would have any more clue as to what his girlfriend was thinking than he did – but didn't say anything as we followed her and Bree out of the facility. I took a deep breath as we made it out of the tunnels, taking in the sweet taste of fresh air for the first time in what felt like years.

"What, did you guys take on the entire base by yourselves?" Kieran's call drew my attention to the crowd waiting for us. The Elite Force was waiting for us, all looking worse for wear, but mostly alright.

But my attention was solely on the redhead at the front of the group, my heart racing at the sight of my girlfriend. "Lil!" She shouted as I raced past the others and lunged at her. I wrapped my arms around her neck, holding her tightly. She dropped her head into the crook of my neck, and I could feel her tremble. "I thought….thank God you're okay." I heard her murmur.

"God, I love you." I responded, feeling tears prickle at the corner of my eyes. Now wasn't the time to get emotional, I knew that, but everything that had happened over these past few months was starting to catch up to me, and soon I was fighting the urge to completely break down.

In the background, I could hear the others talking, reuniting, but all I cared about was that I was free and that Alivia was here. Everything else could wait as far as I was concerned.

**2022**

"Hey, I'm back!" I called as I entered my and Alivia's apartment, placing my jacket on the hook by the door. Her shoes were in the front hall, so I knew she must be home. "My mom says hi, by the way."

"That's nice." Alivia called back. I frowned.

"Where are you?" I called, walking through the apartment. As I neared the kitchen, the door shut abruptly, both answering my question and confusing me more.

"I'll be out in a sec!" She called back.

"What are you doing?" I questioned incredulously.

"I'll be out in a sec! Wait for me at the table?" She insisted.

"Liv-" I began, but she cut me off.

"I have been planning this for two weeks, will you please humor me for five minutes and sit at the table?" She questioned. I chuckled.

"Alright." I agreed, shaking my head as I went to the table. She only kept me waiting for a couple of minutes longer before coming out of the kitchen, a scarlet-colored cake-shaped box in her hands. "What is this?"

She didn't answer, instead placing the cake box in front of me. "Open it." She told me. I went to do just that, then stopped.

"My birthday isn't for three months. You know that, right?" While Alivia wasn't the type to forget anniversaries or birthdays, she did have the tendency to lose track of the days when she was really stressed or working on a major bust. Getting a birth month wrong would be a little extreme, even for her, but not totally out of the realm of possibility.

"I know that. Please open it." She told me. I smiled, then stood up and carefully opened the box. My eyes widened when I saw what was inside.

It was a green-colored cake, with a small scarlet box right in the center. Around the box, written in careful scarlet calligraphy, were the words 'Will you marry me?'. "Oh, Liv." I murmured. She glanced at me, then took the box from the top of the cake. She opened it to reveal a gorgeous golden ring with a heart-shaped diamond in the center, on top of a pattern of entwined knots. She carefully took the ring out of the box.

"Well?" She asked, voice slightly trembling. "Will you marry me, Lily?"

I was so stunned that at first all I could do was nod my head, my lips splitting into a wide grin. Alivia beamed as I finally found my voice. "Yes, oh yes!"

**2026**

"God, there's so many." I murmured to Alivia, staring out at the yard. She glanced at me, looking about as overwhelmed as I felt. Harry smiled in amusement, looking as if he'd seen this reaction before. He probably had, lots of times.

"Why don't you two walk around for a while? I'll come back to check on you in a bit." He suggested, giving us an encouraging smile before walking away to go talk to one of the staff.

I looked back out at the yard. There had to be thirty, forty kids here. How were we supposed to pick just one?

"Shall we?" Alivia offered me her hand, and I let her lead me into the yard. Almost immediately, we were surrounded by a group of little girls, ages ranging from four to eight, all smiling excitedly.

"Do you want to play with me?" "My name is Mary. What's yours?" "Are you going to take one of us home with you? Can I come home with you?" They all said to us, each trying to take up as much of our attention as possible. I laughed nervously, kneeling down to face them better.

"I'm Lily. What are your names?" I asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my wife break away to start talking with a couple of the younger boys, making exaggerated faces at their stories to earn laughs.

Oh God, how in the world were we going to make this choice?

"No, Jason!" I looked up at the sound of a little girl's cry. I could see a four-year-old girl being pushed around by an older boy. By time I'd stood up, the staff had already defused the situation – the boy, Jason, was being led off towards the building, a scowl on his face.

"Hey, honey, are you alright?" Alivia got to her before I did. The four-year-old shook her head, tears streaming down her face as she held up two ripped halves of a coloring book.

"He broke it!" She sobbed as if it were the end of the world.

"Maybe we can fix it." I said hopefully.

"Don't bother." Another voice said. Another boy, this one about six years old with messy dark brown hair, started walking towards us, holding another coloring book. "Wanna trade, Carly?"

"Really?" The four-year-old asked hopefully. He nodded and offered her his coloring book. She beamed and took it, shoving the ripped pieces of her own into his hands before running off to show her friends.

"That was nice of you." I said to the boy. He shrugged, bending down to pick up the rest.

"Keeps her from crying. Jason's always being mean." He replied. He looked at the ripped pieces. "Besides, I don't mind having the bad ones. Someone has to, right?"

"What's your name?" Alivia asked him, cocking her head to the side.

"James. You have a funny voice." He told her, smiling. "I like it."

"So do I." I added. Alivia rolled her eyes, though she smiled a little.

"Mrs. Pratt says you're here to take someone away." The six-year-old asked. Alivia and I exchanged looks.

"We are." I replied. He nodded.

"Can you take Jason? So he stops being mean to everyone?" He asked hopefully, big brown eyes practically begging us to take the bully away.

"Uh…" I looked at Alivia.

"We'll think about it, honey." She promised him. James nodded.

"Thank you." He told her before looking over at a group of boys. "Nice to meet you." He told us before running off to go play with them. I smiled when I recognized some of the superhero action figures they were playing with.

"Hey, babe?" I glanced at Alivia and saw her smiling, still watching the boy.

"I want to go talk to Harry." She told me. I nodded.

"Me too." I agreed, glancing back at James with a smile.


	27. Liam "Spotlight" Bennett

**2016**

"Hey, Red." I greeted Geminus as I made my way over to the refreshments table. For a Normo party, this wasn't half bad – I'd gotten the phone numbers of at least four different girls, so my next week was going to be pretty fun, and the food was better than Diaz's nephew had made it sound. The only problem was, golden girl Geminus was still giving me the cold shoulder, and though I thought I knew why, I wanted to be sure.

"Don't call me that." The Irish hero told me, filling up her drink. I frowned, knowing that I'd heard that Normo doctor call her it a few times. I leaned against the table, looking at her.

"You don't like me much, do you?" She didn't respond. "Oh come on! You're nice to everyone, even Alan, but not me."

"So? Why do you care?" She inquired. I shrugged.

"I don't. I just want to know why." If someone wasn't going to like me, that was their prerogative, but if I did something to offend them, I felt like I should know. "I never did anything to you personally? So, is it because you're trying to replace me as one of the youngest heroes out there, or because I used to date your girl over there?"

Geminus' glance in Jaime's direction told me it was at least partially the second one, though I still suspected that the first explanation was still right in some shape or form. It was no secret that Geminus was ambitious to join the League one day, and while I may have been made a hero younger than her, it wouldn't surprise me if she would make it to the League sooner rather than later. "I don't care that she's bi." Alivia told me.

"I know." I assured her. "But you don't like that I'm her ex, and that we've been hanging out lately. Look, all heroes work together at some point, so I'd rather if we're not enemies or something."

"We're not enemies, Spotlight." She rolled her eyes and started to leave, but I grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"No, seriously." I wanted to be her ally. We may be competitors to see who'd make the League first, but there was no question that we'd both be League members one day. It made more sense if we got along. "Gem, you're a fairly respectable sidekick, and babysitting the Normos-"

"Their names are Kaz, Dani, and Oliver, and I'm their bodyguard, not their babysitter." She cut me off to correct me. I nodded, repeating the names in my head to make sure I knew them.

"Alright. Protecting Kaz, Dani, and Oliver can't be easy, but you're really good at it. And as for our Jaime, well…" I glanced at the blonde electrokinetic, who was talking to girl over by the lockers, "…you don't have to be jealous."

"I'm not!" The redhead bristled at the thought.

"Good. Because I don't stand a chance standing next to you." She smiled at that, pleased. "So, seriously, we cool?"

She sighed. "I guess-" She stopped when she got a text. I frowned when I saw her pale at the sight of the text.

"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned. She pocketed the phone, looking nervous.

"We're busted." She told me. Oh, damn. I'd partially helped convince Alan and the other heroes to come to this party – to be fair, we deserved a break now and then – and I knew Diaz would not be pleased with me if he found out.

"Um, okay. We need to get everyone out of here." I decided. She gave me a look.

"No, really?" She questioned. She raised her hand to stop my response before I could make one. "No, sorry. I'm going to go find Alan, you try and keep everyone out of trouble, alright?"

"Sure." I agreed, watching as she made her way through the crowd.

**2016**

I opened my eyes suddenly, a sharp, explosive pain in my chest waking me from a sleep I didn't remember falling into. I coughed roughly, my chest feeling tight and preventing me from breathing properly as I tried to figure out what was going on.

"Hey," Geminus' face was inches away from mine, concern written all over her face. I blinked in confusion as vague memories of fighting the Baron, a blast of something painful, and then nothing. I could see Kaz, Dani, Oliver, and Horace Diaz out of my peripheral vision, along with a few others that I didn't recognize, so I figured I must be at Mighty Med. "You okay?" Geminus asked.

"Yeah, I-" I winced as a pain ran through my chest. "I think so." I looked around and saw that one of the people I didn't recognize – a dark haired beauty with eyes almost as black as the night – holding up a medical device. "Thanks to you, beautiful."

"You're welcome." She told me, rolling her eyes. I smirked a little at her before dipping my head back, feeling another spike of pain in my chest. I felt Geminus rub my arm comfortingly as she listened to the others' conversation. I mostly tuned them out – I think they were talking about money or jobs or something – as I tried to get my breathing under control.

"How're you feeling? Really?" Oliver asked me after a few minutes. I opened my eyes, not realizing I'd shut them, and discovered that everyone but Geminus, Oliver, the dark-haired girl, and the dark-haired guy she was with, had left.

"Hurts." I mumbled. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but I beat him to it. "Six of ten…like something on my…chest."

"That's probably just a reaction to the negative electrical charge." The dark-haired guy supplied. I frowned.

"The what?" I asked, confused.

"It's what I used to save your life." The dark-haired girl told me. I nodded.

"Remind me to give…you my number later." I told her. "I'm Spotlight."

She smirked a little, though her friend looked less than impressed. "Rani." She replied.

**2017**

"How are you?" I asked gently, sitting down in the seat across from the Scarlet Ace. She looked a little better than before – her head had been stitched up and bandaged, and she no longer looked as if she'd been thrown from the roof of a 20-story building, but she still didn't look great.

"Have you seen the news?" She asked me quietly. I glanced over my shoulder where the TV in the hospital waiting room was playing the footage over and over again, showing the destroyed hospital as it burned. Despite the fact that it was all the way in another state, it was still the biggest story tonight. "They're calling it a terrorist attack."

"That seems to sum it up." I muttered, shaking my head. God, if only the Normos knew. If only they knew what the true target had been – there was no doubt in either of our minds that the Normo hospital had been collateral damage in the attack that destroyed our beloved hospital. If only they knew the true death toll. We didn't even know the full count, and yet we knew for certain that it was much larger than the Normos were aware of.

"They can't all be dead." The Scarlet Ace raised her head to look at me, caramel-colored eyes filled with tears. I felt a lump raise in my throat as I thought of my friends there. Jaime, Kaz, Oliver, Dani, Geminus, Skylar, Horace, Surge…even Alan…they could all be…

"They're alive." I muttered, not sure who I was talking about specifically.

"How do you know?" She asked me. I shook my head.

"Because I don't know if I could handle it if they were all gone." I admitted. She smiled thinly at me, placing her hand over mine. "Some of them have to be alive."

At least, that's what I hoped.

**2021**

"C'mon." I took Rani by the arm and led her to the corner of the room, over by where there was a desk overlooking the cityscape. I had to admit, this Penthouse was pretty nice, but as much as I wanted to admire the place right now, I had bigger worries.

"Yeah, what?" Rani demanded. I looked her over, frowning at the various injuries she was sporting. Kaz had done a pretty decent job of patching her up, but she still looked pale, in pain, and exhausted.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." I told her gently. This whole refusing to rest thing was both childish and uncharacteristic for my girlfriend.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My magic speeds up my healing, you know that." She told me, rolling her eyes as if annoyed with me. I crossed my arms, not satisfied with her answer.

"Now that I mean, and you know it. You're exhausted and everyone knows it." I didn't have all the details as to how things got this bad, but I knew it was bad. Rani was one argument away from either passing out or having an emotional breakdown, and everyone in the penthouse could tell. "Why won't you go get some rest?"

"Because I'm fine." She insisted. I frowned, trying to remember the last time I'd seen her this tired.

"Is it…nightmares again?" She didn't like to talk about them, but we both knew that her sleep was frequently interrupted by horrible memories or bad dreams. It was understandable, given her past, but that didn't mean I was okay with her suffering like that. "I'm sure if you just talk to Horace, or at least Dani, they can give you something to help you sleep."

"No, it's not…I'm sleeping fine, okay. I just…" She trailed off, biting her lip as she tried to figure out what to say. I waited patiently, knowing better than to interrupt her. "Do you ever get that feeling that you're not really awake, that you're really just dreaming and the moment you try to go to sleep, then you're going to wake up in reality?"

"You're worried that this is all a crazy dream." I realized. It made sense – with everything that went on in our lives, there had to be some sort of limit to our crazy. And a time loop, evil government agency, and possibly undead villains with shapeshifting technology would definitely cross that line.

"Do you blame me? In the last twenty-four hours...twenty-five hours, sorry," she sighed, glancing at the clock on the wall, "I've dealt with a fake you, got stuck in a time loop, and broke into a secret fake-government agency building."

"Yeah, that's fair. Our lives are weird. But it is real, Shadows." I saw a hint of a smile at her nickname. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere. This isn't a dream."

I could see the tension bleed out of her shoulders as she relaxed a little, finally connecting with something I was saying. She nodded slightly, letting out a soft breath of relief. "Did you really mean what you said earlier?"

"That you're crazy? Absolutely. But it's a total turn on, I promise." I teased. She elbowed me in the ribs, giving me an exasperated look.

"Do you have any ability to be serious?" She demanded. I smirked.

"A little laughter is good for the soul, my little witch." She raised an eyebrow at that, and I smiled. "Yes, I did fall in love with one crazy, shadow-bending witch named Rani Shore."

She smiled. "Good. Just wanted to make sure." She told me before kissing me. I held her close, kissing her back until I felt her pull away. "Now, why don't we go find that bed you were talking about?"

**2022**

"I don't see why you wanted my help with this." Dani frowned, looking at the display box with vague interest. "Jewelry isn't my thing, Liam."

"Yeah, but you know Rani better than anyone else I know." I replied. She shrugged, looking through the vast array of pieces. "Look, I'm pretty sure she'll say yes anyway, but I want to pick something that suits her, you know."

"That's fair." Dani stopped at one box, looking over the rings inside. "So, you're ready to tie the knot, huh?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?" I questioned, noticing her tone. She shook her head.

"No, you should do this. If you don't, I might kill you." She assured me. I smirked, turning back to the rings in front of me. "It's just…if I'm being honest, I never thought you'd settle down, let alone get married. Rani's domesticated you."

"Dude," I gave her a look and she laughed.

"Okay, I'll stop. It's just cute, is all. You two were made for each other." She told me. I sighed, stepping back from the display case.

"That's great and all. Now if I could only find the ring that was made for her, that'd be better." I decided. Dani looked over her shoulder and laughed.

"Well, first of all, get away from those. Rani doesn't like diamonds. She thinks they're lame and prissy." She told me. I looked at her, confused and frustrated.

"But I thought that engagement rings had to have diamonds in it. Yours did." I pointed out. Dani rolled her eyes.

"It's tradition, sure, but you and Rani are far from traditional. Besides, not everyone does diamonds." She stifled a laugh. "When we get back, you need to ask Kaz about how his dad proposed to his mom. Believe me when I say they threw traditional out the window."

"…Alright." I replied, stepping away from the diamond rings. She was right about them not exactly being Rani's thing. I walked over to where Dani was standing. I could see what seemed like hundreds of options but chose to ignore the first half of them. Gold rings weren't Rani's thing either – she'd always liked cooler colors more.

"We could always check elsewhere too." Dani offered. I was about to take her up on it when I spotted a very unique ring in the middle.

"What about that?" I suggested, pointing it out to her. Made of black gold, it had a single stone – a beautiful blue sapphire – surrounded by a flower design. It absolutely screamed 'Nyx' at me, and I knew Rani would love it the moment she saw it.

"It's perfect." Dani smiled, agreeing with me. She grinned at me. "She'll love it."

**2022**

"Rani?" I called, jogging into our room. "Rani?"

"Bathroom." I heard her call. I followed the sound of her voice, concerned. I'd just gotten back from a mission with Lily, only to be told by Kaz that my new wife had accidently set the training arena on fire this morning. She'd been off her game for a while now, but this was definitely the worst it had gotten.

"Hey, can I come in?" I asked when I came to the closed door. She mumbled the affirmative, and I slowly opened the door to see her sitting on the ground next to the sink, knees pulled up to her chest. I knelt down slowly so that we were at eye-level. "Are you okay?"

"Define okay." She replied, pressing her lips together in a thin line. She didn't look hurt – Kaz had assured me that Melody had put the fire out immediately, so no one had the chance to be injured – but she did look pale.

"What happened?" I asked gently. She sighed, leaning her head back against the wall.

"I used a freezing spell, and the thing caught fire." She answered. I frowned.

"What spell did you use?" I asked, confused.

"Rigescunt indutae." She said slowly, careful not to let the magic escape her. I frowned – I wasn't an expert in magic like her, but I knew the basics, and that was definitely an ice spell.

"Your magic's been weird for a couple of weeks now. Maybe something's messing with it?" I said slowly, concerned. She nodded. "I think you should see Dani, or Horace about it."

Come to think of it, she hadn't been feeling well for the past week either. She was always tired or in a bad mood. She hadn't been eating breakfast either, I'd noticed, but she was eating more than usual later in the day, so I hadn't been concerned.

"Already did." She mumbled. I nodded, waiting for her to tell me what's up.

"And…?" I asked when she didn't continue.

"And Dani suggested a test to check a theory she had." She said slowly. I nodded, and once again, she was quiet. After a moment, she looked at me.

"How do you feel about kids?" She asked me bluntly, holding up a pregnancy test she'd been hiding behind her knees. I stared at her for a moment.

"Are you serious?" I questioned. She nodded, and I grinned.


	28. Rani "Nyx" Shore

**2012**

I could feel them staring, all the other students. I didn't understand how Gully could just ignore it. There were at least thirty sets of eyes on us at all times, all the other students wanting to get a good view of Dr. Wrath's new protégées. Because we weren't just the new kids here, we were also much younger than everyone else, and by more than a year.

I knew that it wasn't uncommon for the professors to bring in younger students who showed promise, but one twelve-year-old, let alone two, definitely set a record for youngest students in Villain University.

I tried my best to focus on what the prof was saying. The class was about breaking out of prisons – not only was it supposed to be interesting, but it was also going to be extremely useful in the future – but with all those people staring, judging us, sizing us up, I just couldn't pay attention.

"Well, that was cool." Gully turned to me with a grin. I hummed in agreement as I packed up my bag, trying to ignore the couple on the auditorium's stairs who were obviously talking about us.

"Hey, you're new, right?" I did look up when one of the students walked over to Gully and I. Unlike the rest, he looked closer to our age – actually, if I didn't know any better, I'd assume he was our age -and a friendly smile on his face.

"What's it to you?" Gully asked suspiciously. So, he too had noticed the animosity some of the students had felt towards us. Glad to know I wasn't alone in that department. The student shook his head, unbothered by my brother's tone.

"Just nice not to be the new kid, or the youngest, anymore. Sucks when you're thirteen and going to a freaking university." He replied.

"We're not here for pity." I told the guy. He smirked.

"And I'm not here to give any. Name's Chaz." He introduced himself.

"Gulliver. This is Rani." Gully told him, shaking his hand. Chaz nodded.

"So, has anyone shown you around yet?" He asked. "I wouldn't mind playing tour guide."

"What's in it for you?" I questioned. This was Villain University, not some Normo public school; nobody here did anything without getting something in return.

"I hear you know magic." He commented, turning to me. "And that you can create some pretty cool illusions."

"What about it?" Gully questioned. Chaz smirked.

"I can use any hero's power against them." He bragged, knowing how jealous that kind of power would make anyone here. No wonder Dr. Wrath had brought him into the school at such a young age. "I figure, fi the three of us team up, we'll kill at the school competition this year."

Gully and I exchanged looks. "Literally or figuratively?" Gully asked. Chaz smirked at the question.

"Does that mean you're game?" He asked. I nodded.

"Oh yeah, we're game." I agreed.

**2016**

"You two ready?" Gully looked at Chaz and I as we entered the closet. I smirked a little at his caution – I knew how much this mission meant to him, but he tended to forget that Chaz and I were just as dedicated to our teacher. We wouldn't screw this up; we couldn't.

Instead of answering him, Chaz stepped past him and slid the tiles of the symbol of Caduceo into place. I smiled at the boys smugly before leading them into the mysterious Mighty Med.

It was just as I figured – too bright, too clean, and utterly dull compared to the chaos I'd learned to love at Villain University. Still, it wasn't all bad. We were noticed right away, but that wasn't much of a surprise. A girl in a green outfit – Geminus, my mind supplied the name – walked over to us, followed by the three Normos that had helped destroy Dr. Wrath. I had to admit, it was a little freaky how similar they looked to us (don't get me started on how close our names were), but I brushed it off. The universe was weird sometimes, wasn't it?

"Whoa, look at this place! There's Blue Tornado!" Chaz exclaimed in fake excitement, pretending to be some dumb Normo.

"And Solar Flare!" I added, grinning widely.

"This must be some kind of secret superhero hospital!" Gully declared. I saw two of the Normos, Dani and Kaz, exchange looks.

"Who are you?" Dani questioned us, looking at us in suspicion.

"Oh, I'm Gulliver Shore." Gully introduced us, shaking their hands too eagerly. "This is my sister, Rani, and my best friend, Chaz Codman."

"Gulliver, Rani, and Chaz? What dorky names." Kaz laughed. I had to stop myself from pointing out that Kaz was stupid, Oliver was lame, and that Dani sounded like a boy's name.

"How did you find this place?" Oliver questioned.

"Well, we were hanging out at our favorite comic book shop, and Gully bet Chaz that he couldn't bust down a door with his head, like Gray Granite." I lied. We'd done our research on these guys, and figured a story similar to theirs would be the most believable.

"I lost. The bet and my peripheral vision." Chaz added. I waved my hand to the side of his face for emphasis.

"See? Nothing." I said when he didn't move.

"Anyway, at the hospital, Chaz and Rani followed this guy who looked exactly like Blue Tornado into a janitor's closet. "We then solved the Caduceo puzzle and here we are." Gully explained before pausing, as if confused. "Where are we, by the way?"

"You're at Mighty Med, a secret superhero hospital." Geminus answered, looking at us suspiciously.

"You're Geminus. The Irish superhero sidekick." Chaz grinned, trying to charm her. It didn't seem to work.

"Yes, and these are Doctor Short, Doctor Broadman, and…the other Doctor Short." She paused before looking at the Normos. "I see why you guys prefer first names with your patients. That must get so confusing."

"So you guys are superheroes?" Gully asked. I smiled, widening my eyes and looking specifically at Kaz. He and Dani were supposed to be an item, but word was, a pretty girl could distract him easily enough.

"Great alter-egos! How do you hide your muscles like that?" I asked. Unsurprisingly, Kaz flexed at the mention of his muscles, a grin slowly coming to his face.

"We're not superheroes. We work here, helping superheroes." Oliver explained, much to his best friend's annoyance.

"But for the record, I have a serious six-pack under this shirt." Kaz insister before getting a look from his girlfriend. "Okay, a one-pack, but my arms are huge under these sleeves!"

"Hey, do you think you can get us jobs here too?" Gully asked them. I sent him a subtle look – if he pushed a too much, they'd get suspicious. Geminus was already suspicious enough.

"I'm sorry, but you guys can't work here. You're just three comic book geeks who stumbled in here off the street; you're completely unqualified." Oliver explained. Wow, a little hypocritical much?

"So were we." Dani whispered to her brother. He covered his mouth with his hand.

"We know that, but they don't." He whispered back.

"We do now. You guys are really bad at whispering." Chaz pointed out.

"Sorry." The twins responded.

"See, this is why you guys should have twin telepathy." Geminus pointed out to her friends. Suddenly, Caduceo himself entered the room, pushing in an injured superhero on a gurney. I glanced at the boys, knowing this was our chance. If we saved this hero, Diaz would welcome us with open arms. And then, we'd be able to save Dr. Wrath with ease.

**2017**

"Hold still." I muttered, raising my fingers to Chaz's neck. I let them linger over a painful looking cut across his neck, the punishment for making a mistake in front of Dr. Wrath. " _Sana eum_."

Chaz grimaced as the wound slowly closed. I winced sympathetically – it wasn't a painless process by any means, nor was it the most effective one, but it always did the job well enough for smaller injuries like this. "Thanks." He muttered, reaching up to rub at where the injury had been. He glanced at me. "You're okay, right?"

"Fantastic." My wrist was aching agonizingly, and I was fairly sure it had been sprained, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I shook my head with a sigh. "I thought he'd be happy with us for bringing him back."

"He's going to kill us." Chaz murmured. I looked at him sharply, and he sighed. "I heard him talking to one of his new partners. We're loose ends, we're disposable."

"Is that true?" I looked up to see Gully standing in the doorway, arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe. Chaz nodded.

"We can't stay here. If we do, we're dead." He told us. Gully shook his head.

"No, no. If we can prove ourselves to him…" He began, but I shook my head.

"If bringing him back from the dead wasn't proof enough of our loyalty and ability, what else can we do?" I asked softly. Gully gave me a look.

"You're just giving up too quickly." He told me.

"No, she's right. We need to get out of here, Gulliver, before it's too late." Chaz insisted. He looked at me. "We could leave tonight."

"Yeah…" I nodded.

"Where would we go?" Gully questioned, looking at him.

"Anywhere but here, man." Chaz looked at him, a pleading look in his eyes. "Come with us, Gulliver. It's our only chance."

"He's right." I agreed, looking at my brother. Gully didn't look totally convinced, but he eventually nodded.

"Alright. We'll leave tonight, midnight." He decided. "But I hope you've got a plan for what we're going to do afterwards."

Chaz smirked and looked at me. "I remember you telling me once that we could take over the world without Dr. Wrath. I think you might be right."

"We'll figure it out." I promised him, even though the thought of the three of us against the world did make me smile.

**2017**

"Hey," I knocked on Alivia's office door.

"It's open!" I heard her call, and I stepped in. I smirked in amusement at the various boxes inside. A number of them were filled with memorabilia from past heroes – Kaz Broadman had hoarded a lot of stuff from Mighty Med and had generously given quite a bit of it to the New League of Heroes – while I was sure at least a few of them were personal items. "Hey, what's up?"

"So...I wanted to talk to you." I said slowly, watching as she unpacked boxes, pulling out a few books.

"About what?" The Irish hero. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.

"So…" I trailed off. She paused in her unpacking and looked up at me. "So, do you remember our deal?"

Alivia stopped and stood up straight, looking at me closely. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I do." She nodded, though there was something in her tone. "Yeah, you help us take out Wrath, and then you walk away, and we don't bother you."

"Yeah…" I paused, thinking my words through carefully. Alivia shook her head and placed her hands on her desk.

"I was hoping to maybe re-negotiate that deal." "I had thought, after everything, you wouldn't want to…" We both spoke at the same time, before staring at each other.

"Wouldn't want to what?" I raised an eyebrow at what she'd started to say. She shook her head and raised her hand to stop me.

"Re-negotiate? Re-negotiate how?" She asked cautiously. I shook myself, focusing back on the point I'd come in here to make.

"I was thinking of maybe hanging around. You know…you could use some help around this place." I mumbled. Alivia smiled.

"You want to join the New League of Heroes." She realized, crossing her arms with this smirk on her face. I bit the inside of my cheek, stopping myself from smiling. "Have you told Spotlight yet?"

"I…" I hesitated, a little surprised by her directness. She raised an eyebrow, waiting. "Not yet."

"Then you better go do that." She suggested. I rolled my eyes and headed for the door. "Rani?"

"Yeah?" I asked, stopping at the door.

"We're glad to have you." She told me. I smiled appreciatively and left her to finish packing.

**2020**

"I love you."

I regretted those words the moment they passed my lips. Liam stopped suddenly, hands freezing on my hips. I couldn't see his face, I could feel his lips pull away from my neck. "Shit, Liam, I…"

He pulled back, looking very much like a deer in headlights. Oh, what did I just do? I knew he wasn't really the relationship type – according to Dani, this was the longest she'd ever seen him with a single girl – and the 'I love you' bit was probably premature, and if I had to guess by the freaked out, caught off guard look in his eyes, he certainly hadn't been expecting it.

"Um…I…" He was at a loss for words. Then, as if to rescue him, there was a sharp knock on the door.

"You two decent? It's important." Alivia called. Liam still looked a little too shocked to move, but I quickly grabbed Liam's t-shirt off of the bedside table and pulled it on before sliding deeper under the covers.

"Good enough!" I called, letting Alivia know that she could come in. She ran in clad in uniform.

"Sorry." She apologized, realizing what she'd interrupted. "But I need Liam for a mission."

"Uh…" Liam didn't quite answer. Alivia gave him a confused look and I sighed irritably.

"Does it have to be him? Now?" I questioned.

"Sorry, time pressing and everyone else is out on their own missions." She told us, still looking at Liam, waiting for his response. "The only reason I'm not sending you out is because Dani hasn't cleared you from your last mission."

"I broke like one rib, it's not a big deal." She should have cleared me on the spot, it my opinion, but Dani had insisted I wait until it healed.

"No, I-I'll go." Liam finally seemed to come back to himself. He looked at Alivia. "Give me a sec?"

"I'll give you a full minute if you can find pants." Our boss commented, glancing briefly at his superman themed boxers before shaking her head and walking out. Liam scrambled to get dressed, all while I sat in bed, watching.

"We'll…uh…we'll talk when I get back." He promised me, kissing me on the cheek before running out, still trying to put his jacket on as he left. I pulled my legs up to my chest, hoping that I hadn't just ruined the best thing to happen to me in a very long time.

**2036**

"Hey," I looked up from my stack of books, a little startled at the sudden voice. Lily was standing in the doorway to the base's library, a tub of ice cream in her arms. "What are you still doing up?"

"Working on something. It's not that late." I reasoned. Lily scrunched her face up, clearly disagreeing with me.

"What time do you think it is?" She asked me, amused.

"I don't know, eleven?" I guessed. She laughed.

"Try two." She told me. A little surprised, I checked my phone, but the psychic was correct.

"Oh, damn." Without Liam here, and Nyssa sleeping over at a friend's place, it was too easy to lose track of the time. "What are you doing up?"

"Hungry." She reasoned with a shrug, walking in. "What are you working on? Not Coalition stuff?"

"No, no. I let Liv handle that, you know that." I replied, flipping the pages and beginning to scrawl the spell down in the leather-bound notebook. Lily watched with curiosity in her eyes.

"Are you…you're making a grimoire?" She asked, confused. "I thought witches don't usually do that until they were really old. Like senior discount old."

"We don't. This isn't a grimoire." I explained. "It's a spellbook for Nyssa."

"You're teaching her magic?" Lily looked at me sharp look. "I thought Alivia said no officially training any of the kids until they were fourteen."

"She did, but this isn't sidekick training. It's…a rite of passage." I told her. She gave me a look. "Besides, magic takes years to master. Nyssa's older than I was when I started."

"Yeah, but…Rani…" Lily gave me a sympathetic look. "You probably shouldn't have started as young as you did."

"Probably." I admitted. "But this is a different environment, a better one. It's a good place and time for Nyssa to learn."

"I suppose." Lily agreed slowly. I shrugged.

"It's not going to be anything dangerous, if that's what you're worried about." I assured her. "Simple spells, nothing complicated and nothing offensive either. Just stuff she can use around the base to help prepare her for more complicated magic."

"That seems fair." Lily agreed. She leaned on the desk, looking over my work. She frowned. "What's this spell for?"

"Oh, that's for if Nathan doesn't stop hitting on her." I replied. Lily gave me a look and I raised my hands in defense. "Liam's request. Bring it up with him if you don't like it."

Lily shook her head in exasperation, then glanced down at her tub of ice cream. "So, you going to help me finish this, or do I need to wake Alivia up? Because I think it's a little much for me…"

I smirked a little. "Let me get a spoon."


	29. Adam Davenport

**2013**

"Give it back, Chase!" I shouted angrily. He and Bree were always stealing my things, and I was sick of it. Not to mention, the last time he took my IPod, he filled it with a bunch of lame audio books and screwed up my playlists.

Chase managed to get behind the closing doors to the main part of the lab before I could get to him, the door sliding shut seconds before I could grab the back of his shirt. "Good luck getting in!" I heard him yell, his voice muffled by the door. "That steel door is thicker than your head!"

'Oh yeah?' I thought to myself before balling my fist and slamming it into the doors with all my might. I smirked triumphantly as the doors came unhinged, and with a single push, they both fell to the ground. Chase stared at me, eyes wide as I smirked back. It was always so fun when I managed to surprise him.

"Well, that's another way to get in." He joked weakly, backing up. I lunged at him, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and lifting him off the ground before he could escape.

"Give me back my IPod!" I snapped, losing my patience with him.

"I don't have it!" Chase protested, struggling in my grip. He stopped struggling suddenly, and I looked behind me to see Bree walk into the middle of our fight, my IPod in her hands and my earbuds in her ears.

"Oh, hey." She grinned. I gasped, dropping Chase.

"You took my IPod!" I accused, pointing at my sister. She looked at me, raising an eyebrow.

"Taylor Swift mega-mix? Really?" She judged me.

"I find her soothing." I reasoned, reaching for the IPod. Bree tried to walk away with it, so I shot a blast of my heat vision just over her shoulder. She stopped in her steps, then turned around to glare at me.

"Oh, I know you didn't shoot that laser at me." She said, giving me a look.

"Oh, sorry. It was a terrible mistake, just like your face." I retorted. She glowered at me, then sped forward and pushed me into Mr. Davenport's empty yellow barrels. I stumbled into them. Before I could retaliate, though, something caught my eye. Or rather, someone.

There was a strange, small, dark-skinned kid behind the barrels, staring at us with wide eyes. The four of us all stared at each other before screaming, too confused by the situation to do anything else.

The kid went running deeper into the lab after letting out a high-pitched scream, and I looked at Chase and Bree to see if they knew what to do. Calla and Mr. Davenport were the only people to ever be in the lab, and Mr. Davenport had made sure to introduce Calla to us so we'd know who the strange girl walking around the lab would be. This kid, on the other hand, we had no idea who he was or where he came from.

"C'mon." Chase told us, following the kid into the lab, brow furrowed in confusion. I followed suit, still wondering how he'd gotten down here.

**2014**

"Are they gone?" Bree hissed as we all hid behind a crate. Chase muttered a reassurance a moment later, having made sure that he was right about the boat's crew being below deck before climbing out from behind the crate.

As far as boats went, this wasn't the worst one we could have ended up on. Sure, it was smelly and icky and about as far as one could get from a luxury ocean liner, but it was better than some dingy, right? And it would be impossible to trace, which was supposed to be the point.

"Well, after the last six hours, I can confidently say there is no ladylike way to sit on an anchor." Bree announced, breaking the silence.

"What are you complaining about? I had a seagull using my head as a nest." Chase argued with her, pulling a few feathers out of his hair and tossing it into the ocean.

"Where are we headed anyway?" Bree questioned.

"No idea. I can't pinpoint our locations without our GPS locators." Chase replied, sounding frustrated. I smiled sympathetically, knowing how much he would miss using certain aspects of his bionics. Bree and I could use ours just fine, but connecting to our GPS, or even the mini computer he had in his head, could make it easier for the FBI to find us.

"I bet we're going to Acapulco. That's where all the cruise ships go." I forced a grin onto my face. Someone had to keep us optimistic around here, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be either of them.

"Adam, this isn't a cruise ship. It's a cargo freighter." Chase explained to me, his tone giving away his annoyance. I rolled my eyes and sat down on a pile of ropes, trying to get comfortable in them as if they were a beach chair.

"Well, whatever it is, we're on vacation, okay?" I was fully aware that this wasn't some kind of vacation, but I figured, if we could pretend it was for a little while, it might get Bree and Chase to calm down a little.

"This is not a vacation! We're hiding from the FBI!" Unfortunately, not even Bree seemed willing to play along, not even for a minute.

"And if they find out about us, we'll become government guinea pigs and Mr. Davenport will go to jail." Chase added, saying the truth I was trying to avoid out loud. It wasn't that I didn't know all that – I may not have been the most focused during training, but if I learned anything from Mr. Davenport, it was why we had to keep our bionics a secret.

"Oh, will you relax? Nice to get away every once in a while, isn't it? And where is that waiter?" I asked, playing dumb. It was easier to pretend sometimes. Chase worried enough for all three of us most days.

I didn't really blame him. I hated this situation too. I knew what this all meant – that we would probably never go home again. We'd probably never see Mr. Davenport, Leo, or Tasha again, ever. We were giving up our family. Chase was giving up Calla (he'd probably never get a girl again, let alone someone like her), Bree was giving up Jaden (I didn't entirely buy the fact that they were 'just friends'), and I was giving up Jessica (I should have asked her while I'd had the chance. Now she would always be a 'what if', and that fact sat uncomfortably with me). We were giving up the only lives we'd ever had.

I wasn't oblivious to all that, despite what he and Bree clearly thought. But…I don't know. Maybe focusing on the good was just better than focusing on the bad. And if that meant I had to make up the good by acting stupid and pretending things were alright when they weren't, so be it.

**2015**

I stretched, opening the fridge in search of something to eat. It was well past one in the morning, and I knew everyone in the house was asleep – hell, I could hear Douglas snoring from his room down the hall. I should probably be asleep too, but after the day we'd had, I just couldn't close my eyes. It was irrational, I knew that Mr. Davenport and Officer Parker were handling the situation, but I half expected government goons to just charge in here at any moment and try to take us away again.

I sighed, knowing there was no way in hell I was going to get some shut eye, no matter how heavy a meal I had this late. Instead, I grabbed a bag of popcorn and shoved it in the microwave, before snatching Leo's Oreo container out of a different cupboard. It was pretty late, so I doubted there was going to be much on TV, but there had to be something.

The popcorn was almost done when I heard a sound. It didn't take Chase's super-hearing to tell that it was coming from the backdoor. I waited a moment, thinking that maybe Henry (the raccoon that Chase, Bree, and Tasha refused to let me officially adopt) had come back, but when I heard the door slowly open, I made my way towards the source. It couldn't have been any of the others – everyone was asleep in their bedrooms, I was sure of that, so it must be an intruder. I stayed close to the wall, hoping to take advantage of the fact that the intruder thought everyone would be asleep, and didn't act until I saw the outline of a dark figure coming from the shadows. I reached out at the last second and flipped the intruder over my shoulder, smirking when they let out a surprised cry as they hit the ground. I quickly flipped on the lights, wanting to see the face of the person stupid enough to break into my home and come after my family.

Calla stared up at me from the ground, shaking hands clutching her plasma gun and eyes blown wide with fear and shock. I dropped my hands right away, confused but relaxed now that I knew it was only her. Calla, on the other hand, took a little longer to recognize that I wasn't a threat, but when she did, she dropped her weapon and covered her face with her hands, still lying flat on her back.

"Why?" Her entire body shook as she half-cried, half-laughed into her hands out of pure shock. "Why?"

"Are you okay?" I demanded, remembering that she'd already had a concussion before I'd flipped her. I offered her my hands and pulled her to her feet. She seemed steady enough on them, albeit still a little shaken.

"Oh my God, I think you gave me a heart attack." She whispered to herself, one hand over her heart. She looked at me, eyes still wide. "Why would you do that?"

"Why would I…Calla, you broke into our house at one in the morning." I pointed out. She took another moment to catch her breath before shoving one hand in her pocket.

"It's not breaking in if you have a key." She pointed out, pulling out her keys. "But…yeah, fair point."

We stood there in awkward silence for a minute before I finally decided to break it. "Are you going to tell me why you didn't technically, but totally broke into our house, or is this one of those I have to guess things?" I asked when she offered no explanation for her presence. She looked away, one hand rubbing her arm. "Calla?"

"I uh…I couldn't sleep. After today, I just…I couldn't stop thinking about…you know…" She muttered, trailing off in slight embarrassment. She looked at me sharply. "Don't laugh."

I stared at her, realizing that she was probably just as freaked out as the rest of us. Calla was basically family, but she wasn't technically (though, given a few years, I had no doubt that Chase would change that) and that sometimes made it easy to forget that she went through some of the same stuff that we did. And even though she wasn't in danger of being taken away by the government, she had certainly nearly lost three of her best friends and nearly died at least twice today.

Neither of us said anything, though neither of us cared about the silence until the beeping of the microwave caught our attention. Calla jumped slightly at the noise, spare hand twitching towards the plasma gun briefly. "Uh, you want to eat snacks and watch reruns of Friends with me?" I asked, thinking of the only show that would definitely be on at this time of night.

"Sure." Calla nodded, heading towards the couch. By time I came back to the living room, carrying a bowl of popcorn and the now open package of Oreos, she'd settled herself on the couch, using a jacket Chase had left out as a pillow.

"Aren't these Leo's?" She questioned, glancing at the Oreos with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah?" I replied, confused by why she'd care. She shrugged in response, reaching forward to grab a handful of them out of the bowl. I grabbed a remote and started flicking through the channels, trying to find the right channel.

"Hey, Adam?" Calla said softly after a moment. I glanced at her and she gave me a tired smile. "You know Chase wasn't the only one I was worried about, right?"

I smiled back at her. "Please, you shouldn't have worried at all. You can't get rid of us that easily." I joked. Her smile widened as she settled back in the couch.

**2016**

"About time. Try these on." The moment Chase, Bree, and I walked through the door, Calla was shoving bundles of clothes into our arms, an impatient look on her face.

"What are they?" Chase asked, holding up the outfit. It was bright white, with black stripes along the sides and across the shoulder blades.

"Your new suits." Calla told him, smiling proudly to herself. I looked at my and Bree's outfits – they were all identical.

"They're bright white." Bree commented, hesitating. Calla looked at her, a little confused.

"Yeah, so?" She asked. She crossed her arms and gave my sister a look. "Please don't tell me this is some 'no white after labor day' crap."

"No. Well…" Bree trailed off, smirking a bit at Calla's annoyed reaction. "Kidding. But, I know you probably put a lot of work into these, but is white really a good color for our mission suits? It kinda makes us strand out."

"Oh!" Calla laughed a little, realization crossing her face. "No, no, no. These aren't your mission suits – I literally just broke out the new ones like two weeks ago, I'm not ready to scrap them just yet – these are your mentor suits."

"Mentor suits?" I repeated, confused. I glanced at my siblings, wondering if I'd just tuned Davenport out at the wrong moment again, but they looked just as confused as me. Calla shook her head.

"Of course he forgot to tell you." She muttered to herself. She smirked. "Alright, you know how Davenport said the soldiers are now going to be students? Who do you guys think is going to be teaching them?"

"I figured it would be you and Mr. Davenport." Bree replied. Calla raised an eyebrow.

"There's like a hundred of them." She pointed out. "And I don't think my mom is going to let me drop out of school to teach a bunch of ex-soldiers how to be superheroes."

"Well not with that attitude she isn't." I replied. Calla rolled her eyes a little.

"Anyway, these are your mentor outfits, and I want to make sure they fit and stuff before we open the doors. Go, change." She waved her hands. Bree shrugged and immediately sped off in the direction of the lab. Chase and I hung back a minute, wanting to see how the uniform looked on Bree first.

"So, we're going to be teaching the students?" I asked, still a little surprised. Chase frowned.

"Is that really a good idea?" Chase questioned. "I mean…" He glanced at me. "Adam's not exactly…"

"Not exactly what?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

"Academically-inclined?" Chase tried. I glared at him, annoyed, even though I knew he had a point. What exactly was I supposed to teach the students? Well, I had a few ideas, but I didn't think that Mr. Davenport would be too happy about me spending class time teaching the students how to race guinea pigs and how to annoy Chase into leaving the room.

"We have specific classes for everyone that play to everyone's strengths. Don't worry – all the science stuff is assigned to you and Davenport." She assured him. He nodded, looking relieved. "Now, change. Go."

Chase rolled his eyes at her insistence, but did as he was told, heading towards the lab. Calla turned to me. "You waiting for an invitation?" She asked, a little confused why I was still standing.

"You guys really want me teaching?" I asked instead. She rolled her eyes.

"Ignore Chase. Not all teachers have to be geniuses." She assured me. I frowned. "I mean it – it'll be fine, Adam."

"What will I be teaching, anyway?" I questioned. Calla thought about it.

"Self-defense, hand to hand combat, social stuff…you did really well in the first aid stuff Davenport taught you guys, so I think you're teaching a couple of classes like that." She shrugged. "Don't worry – it won't be anything that you'll hate to teach."

I considered it – it did sound like they wouldn't be horrible classes to teach. And it didn't sound like Mr. Davenport was just giving me classes to keep the students busy either, so that was good. "Can I add things to what I can teach them?"

"You can't teach them how to race guinea pigs." Calla told me with a sigh. I looked at her. "I know you well enough by now, Adam. The answer is no."

"Can I at least teach them how to arm wrestle?" I requested. Calla smirked a little.

"Okay." She agreed. I grinned – this teaching thing was going to be fun.

**2016**

I glanced at my phone, checking the time. It read 9:59 in bright white numbers. I rubbed my hands together, a little nervous. It had been a while since I'd planned something like this – the few girls I'd gone out with after Jessica had always been the dinner-and-a-movie types of girls – so I was a little worried that she wouldn't like it. Was it too cliché? Kinda silly?

"Adam?" I turned around at the sound of Rio's voice, grinning at the sight of her in that pretty blue blouse and white skirt. Bree or Calla had clearly helped her get ready, even if she didn't exactly know what this was.

"Wow." I grinned at her as she walked over. "You look great."

"Thanks." She ducked her head a little, blushing, as she sat down next to me on the picnic basket. She glanced at the tray of food I'd set out. "Strawberries?"

"Kieran said it was your favorite." I explained as she picked one out of the pile.

"I love them." She told me with a smile, playing with it in her hands. She looked at me, a suddenly thoughtful look on her face. "So, what is this exactly?"

Her tone told me that she already had a good idea, and since she looked like she was already enjoying herself, I grinned. "Our first date." I told her. Her smile widened and so did mine.

"Hey, check it out." I nodded at the sky as a bright streak flew across the starry night, the shooting star appearing almost as if this were some romance movie.

"Make a wish." Rio murmured. I smirked, leaning in.

"I've already got what I want." I replied before going in for the kiss. She leaned into the kiss, one hand moving on top of mine as she kissed me back, wanting this all just as badly as I did.

**2021**

"When can I open my eyes?" Rio questioned, her tone patient as I carefully guided her forwards. My hands were over her eyes, preventing her from getting a quick sneak peek before she was in the right position.

"Hold on." I told her, gently moving her towards the center of the roof before settling her down on the blanket. Glancing at my watch to make sure I still had a few seconds, I then removed my hands. Rio looked at me, a confused smile on her face.

"As much as I love a midnight picnic, what's this all about?" She asked me. I grinned.

"Look up." I told her. She rolled her eyes, amused, but did as I asked, raising her face to the night sky. The stars glittered above us, the horizon thankfully cloud-free.

"Okay…?" She asked, not looking back down. I smiled and sent a quick prayer that Calla and Chase had managed to get the timing perfect on their projector.

"Three…two…one." I finished in a breathy whisper as the projector came to life. Above us, white, holographic lines began to form between the stars, appearing like constellations. Rio gasped in surprise, watching as the device wrote words in the stars. The words weren't perfectly etched – they were messy and blotchy with some letters massive compared to others, but they lined up with the stars perfectly, just as I'd hope.

"Adam…" Rio whispered as the words 'Will you marry me' shined down on her. One hand was hovering close to her mouth. I smiled a little, pulling the tiny box out from behind the picnic basket. I opened it up so she could see the ring inside, and looked at her hopefully. "I…Yes." She finally turned me, eyes glancing at the ring before looking back at her. "Yes, I…I'll marry you, yes."

**2023**

"Hey, guess who went to Cinnabon?" I called, walking into my and Rio's quarters at the Academy. I dropped my mission bag by the door, careful not to drop the box of delicious pastries when I did. "Rio?"

"Hey." Turning my head, I caught sight of my wife, sitting at the bottom of my capsule. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach, even though her smile was pain-free.

"Hey, your stomach still feeling weird?" I asked, placing the box on the coffee table and walking over to her. She shook her head.

"No, I'm feeling better." She assured me. "How was the mission?"

"Boring." I announced, dropping to my knees and crawling into the capsule next to her. She let out a surprised giggle as I pulled her onto my lap, but it was the only way the two of us could fit comfortable sitting in the capsule like that. I rubbed her lower back carefully, knowing that even if whatever it was that was messing up her stomach earlier was really gone, the back rub would still help. "I didn't get to blow anything up."

"Well, that's a shame." Rio replied. I looked at her, noticing something off in her tone. She didn't seem upset or anything, but there was something there.

"It is. What's up?" I asked. She bit the inside of her cheek, then grinned at me. She unwrapped her arms from around her waist until one arm was around my shoulder. The other hand held a small, thermometer-shaped item.

"Adam…" She smiled, ducking her head into my neck. Her lips brushed by my ear. "I'm pregnant."

I paused, my hand stalling on her back as those words washed over me. "You're pregnant."

"I'm pregnant." She confirmed. I turned to her, grinning.

"We're having a baby." I whispered. She nodded and I beamed, standing up with her in my arms. She cried out in surprise at the sudden movement, both hands suddenly gripping my neck as I hefted her upwards. "We're having a baby." I whispered again, leaning in to kiss her.

**2027**

"Alright buddy, you've got this." I encouraged, holding my hands out for Frankie to reach for. He was standing at the other end of the pool (Rio had made it very clear that he wasn't allowed to be in the ocean until he really learned how to swim, unless it was right on the beach), looking at me nervously. "C'mon Frankie, it's just a few feet."

"Don't want to." He refused, gripping the wall. He was standing in the kiddie side of the pool, the water barely making it up to his waist.

"I'll make you a deal. You swim to me, and I'll buy you ice cream." I offered, giving him a grin. His ears perked up at the sound of the treat.

"Chocolate ice cream?" He asked hopefully.

"Any kind you want." I promised. He inched away from the edge of the kiddie zone, but stopped when he felt the ground dip beneath his feet. "Frank, buddy, I'm right here. Alright?"

He bit his lip once, then pushed forwards into the water, kicking his legs the moment his feet left the ground. I grinned triumphantly as he swam before me, kicking up water behind him. "Yes!" I exclaimed as he grabbed one of my hands, the other reaching around his back to support him so he wouldn't have to put as much effort into staying afloat in the deeper water. "Way to go, buddy!"

I gave him a small high-five as Rio walked over, a towel wrapped around her waist. "How's it going guys?" She asked, kneeling down at the edge of the pool.

"We're having ice cream!" Frank beamed. She frowned a little at that, but didn't argue.

"And whose idea was that?" She asked. Frank and I both looked at each other briefly before pointing at the other, earning a laugh from Rio.


	30. Leo Dooley

**2012**

"He's late." I commented, glancing up at my mom from behind my menu. She gave me a look. "Well, he is."

"And he called ahead of time to explain, Leo." She reminded me. "He had an emergency at work."

"That's what he says." I commented. Mom gave me a look. "I'm sorry, but do you really believe that one of his employees accidentally set another's desk on fire?"

"It is a little bizarre, but I don't think he's making it up." Mom reasoned.

"How do you even accidentally set a desk on fire?" I questioned rhetorically. Mom shook her head.

"I do hope he fires that Adam guy, for everyone's sake." She muttered.

"Or at least introduces him to me." I added with a smirk. Mom raised an eyebrow at that. "C'mon, if the fire story is true, you have to admit, it'd be an exciting friendship."

"Leo," Mom gave me a stern look. "Please behave tonight. Okay?"

I looked at her, frowning. "So this is getting pretty serious, right?" I asked. She hesitated. "You don't usually insist on me meeting someone you're dating. At least you haven't in a while."

"Yes, it's…serious." She admitted, smiling. "And I would really like it if you two would get along."

"I'll try." I promised, earning a smile from her.

"Try what?" I looked up as a short man with dark hair walked over to us, wearing a jacket and decent shirt. I recognized him instantly – not only had I seen the profile picture on my mom's dating site, but Donald Davenport was in at least half a dozen of the science magazines I'd subscribed to over the past few years.

"Nothing." Mom stood up and kissed him on the cheek before they both sat down. I fidgeted a little in my seat, suddenly feeling a little nervous. Like I'd said, Mom rarely invited me to the meet her boyfriends. In fact, the last time had been over three years ago, and now that I was actually old enough to understand what dating actually meant (and what it could mean in the future, if things got really serious), I felt like I should actually try to make a good impression. "Honey, this is Leo. Leo, this is Donald."

"Nice to meet you, Leo." Donald offered me his hand and I shook it tentatively, noticing how he too looked a little nervous. Damn, he must really like my mom if he was nervous about meeting her kid.

"You too." I replied. I thought for a minute, trying to think of a way to break the tension before it got bad. "So, did someone really set a fire at work?"

"Uh, yeah." He chuckled a little. "It's out now, and no one got hurt – well, unless you count my assistant's desk, which is completely ruined – but yeah, he set a fire. Accidentally."

"How?" I grinned. To my surprise, I didn't even have to pretend to be interesting in the conversation with him. He hesitated.

"Let's just say, there was a small incident with lasers and a book Calla was reading." He said vaguely. I grinned. "I take it you're one of those kids who enjoys stuff like that?"

"Lasers? Yeah." I think he was expecting me to say fires, but he smiled at my interest. "The coolest part of physics class is when we get to mess around with them."

"You're into science?" Donald looked at my mom, a little surprised. I nodded. "Maybe you can come to office sometime, see what I'm working on?"

"That sounds cool." I replied. I could see Mom smiling out of the corner of my eye and I grinned. This guy didn't seem so bad after all, so I supposed I would really try to get along with him. For her sake, of course.

**2013**

I glanced up from my phone to look out the window, watching as we left the suburbs and started heading towards the large hill at the edge of town. I'd never been up there myself, but like everyone else in Mission Creek, I knew it was where all the rich guys lived. You know, those ridiculously loaded, one percenters who liked to flaunt their money around.

I'd never expected Mom to end up with someone with that kind of money, let alone end up getting married to them. I wasn't complaining – Davenport seemed nice, if not a little vain, and the money was a nice perk – but I couldn't help but wonder what the kids at school would say. I wasn't the most popular kid (unless you counted the football team, but since there were maybe only two or three of the players that had yet to give me a wedgie or steal my clothes during gym class, I didn't really consider that a good thing), but I didn't want people to look at me different because of my step-dad's money. People with this kind of money tended to be looked at as if they were snooty and full of themselves, and that wouldn't exactly make it easy to get a girlfriend.

I vaguely listened as Mom and Davenport talked in the front seat. Or Mom and Big D, as I was starting to call him – Mr. Davenport seemed too formal and Donald just sounded weird. Mom seemed excited for the move, even if I wasn't totally sold on it. I liked our old house – sure it was small, but it was right across from the food stand that made the delicious nachos and there were a couple of kids next door who would let me come and play video games with them. I doubted that it would be so easy to make friends I actually liked while living up on Rich Guy Hill.

I sighed as we finally pulled into the driveway of our new home. The house was pretty big, so I guess that was a plus. Big D and Mom got out, my new step-dad almost immediately lifting her up in his arms and leaving me the bags to bring to the house.

I groaned, getting out of the car and following them up to the door, dragging the heavy bags behind me. I had to admit, this was going to be an interesting change for us. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

"We get it; you got married! It's getting old!" I exclaimed, coming in and dropping the bags just as they started to kiss. Big D sighed and put my mother down as I looked around. The house was pretty big, and I had to admit, it was a lot cooler than I expected. "Wow, you got this big house just from inventing things?" I asked, incapable of hiding my shock as I looked around.

"Yep." Big D replied. I looked at my mom.

"Now THAT's a husband." I told her, grinning. Okay, maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

**2014**

"He's bionic." I shook my head, pacing the length of Calla's room. She didn't answer, still sitting with her back to the door, looking vaguely like she was having an aneurism. "He's freaking bionic. What the hell are we supposed to do? How is he even bionic?"

"I don't know." She murmured, shaking her head. "I just…"

I continued to pace in her room, glancing briefly at my phone to check if I'd gotten any texts. I'd snuck out and gone to Calla's as soon as I was sure everyone was asleep, but I didn't want any of them to know I was gone. "How is he bionic?" I asked again, trying to figure out how all this was possible. "How did he know that Adam, Bree, and Chase?"

"I don't know." Calla said again.

"What does he want?" I questioned.

"I don't know!" Calla snapped, losing her patience. She looked up at me, clenching her fists. "Leo, I don't freaking know, and continuously asking questions that neither of us have an answer to isn't doing anything."

We both stared at each other for a minute before she dropped her head into her knees. "Sorry." She mumbled. I sighed and sat down besides her, close enough that our shoulders were touching. "He's bionic, Leo." She whispered. "He could…God, he could kill people."

"You think he's capable of that?" I asked her. She looked at me.

"You don't?" She questioned.

"I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page." I told her. She sighed.

"He could kill someone, Leo. We should tell someone." She muttered.

"Did you not hear him before?" I demanded. "He'll tell the world about Adam, Bree, and Chase."

"I know, but how is he supposed to know that we told anyone? I mean, if we went to someone, and they got to him before he could tell anyone…?" She trailed off, knowing that it was a bad idea. We wouldn't be able to convince Adam, Bree, Chase, or even Big D of this, and any cop we'd go to would take Adam, Bree, and Chase down too. "God, Leo, this is so messed up."

"What do we do, Calla? If we can't tell Adam, Bree, and Chase?" I asked her, wondering if she could tell how scared I was. Wondering if she was just as scared.

"Protect them." She said weakly, as if it were the only answer that came to mind.

"How?" I asked. She shook her head before leaning it against the door, staring at the ceiling.

"I don't know." She whispered again, sounding helpless. I sighed.

"You and me against a bionic sociopath." I muttered. I looked at Calla, trying to find a silver lining. "At least this school year won't be boring."

She let out a breathless laugh. "You're right about that, Dooley. You are right about that."

**2014**

I sighed, knowing that even if we could convince Perry to release Adam, Bree, and Chase from detention (which was never going to happen), it would still take too long to get them caught up to speed with the situation.

"C'mon." I told Calla, getting up from my seat in the lab and heading towards the garage. Calla followed me, confused.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"The mission site." I replied, walking between the various mission vehicles until I found one of Davenport's cars.

"What?" Calla stopped short, staring at me.

"Adam, Bree, and Chase aren't going to make it, and Big D needs help. We can't just sit here and do nothing." I stopped at the passenger side of the car. "You can drive, right?"

"I have my learner's permit…Leo, this is crazy. We've never been on a mission before." She argued, even as she walked around to the other side of the car. I sighed and placed my hands on the roof.

"I know that, but Big D really needs our help. And besides, if we're going to face Marcus or whatever," we still really hadn't figured out what to do about him, "we're going to need some mission experience, right?"

Calla opened her mouth to argue with me, but couldn't think of anything that would make sense. "This is crazy." She repeated as she climbed into the driver's seat. I sat down next to her as she adjusted the seat. She started the car using the keys that were in the glove compartment (Big D wanted them handy in case the guys had to leave in a hurry), then paused. "You do realize that this is the first time I'll have ever driven on my own, and that there is a fifty percent chance of me crashing into something on my way to the mission?"

I looked at her, saw how serious she was about that, then silently buckled my seat belt. She sighed and shook her head. "This is crazy." She muttered to herself before backing out of the garage.

**2015**

I opened my eyes slowly, confused and disoriented. I was lying on something hard, in the middle of what looked like an abandoned warehouse. My arm ached painfully, though not nearly as bad as it had been before, and was oddly strapped down…Suddenly, everything came back to me. Krane, that girl...

"HELP! HELP!" They must have kidnapped me after I'd lost consciousness. But what had happened to Calla and Douglas? They'd both been hurt, but I didn't know how bad. What if he'd… "SOMEBODY HELP! PLEASE!"

"Leo, calm down!" Suddenly, Douglas ran into the room, Calla right behind them. They were alive. "Calm down."

I looked around desperately as he patted my shoulder. "Where is he? Where is Krane?" I demanded. We had to get out of here before he could…do whatever it was he was planning on doing with us.

"He abandoned this place a while ago." Douglas assured me. "The guy's got hideouts everywhere. You should see his torture chamber in Palm Beach. It's gorgeous."

"He has a torture chamber?" Calla demanded, staring at him. I glanced at her, finally feeling my breathing get back under my control. She didn't look too badly hurt, but I could see bandages around her head, partially hidden by her hair.

"Hey Calla." I murmured to her, and she smiled. "Wait, why am I strapped down? Why are we here?"

"I had to bring you here. It's the only place I knew with the necessary equipment." Douglas explained as he started to release the straps around my arm.

"Equipment for what?" I asked, glancing at the thick bandages around my arm. Calla smiled, her lips curling into that I-know-something-you-don't smirk I'd always hated.

"Take the bandage off." She told me. Douglas nodded and I glanced at my arm. Gulping nervously and not knowing what condition my arm might be in, I followed their instructions. To my shock, the arm was completely unharmed, the skin as smooth and unblemished as my other arm.

"It's completely healed." I bent it experimentally, surprised that it caused me no problems. "But how?"

"Go ahead," Douglas crossed his arms, grinning, "pretend like you're throwing a baseball."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Is this really the time to make fun of how uncoordinated I am?" I questioned, confused what this had to do with how my arm had magically healed itself.

"Just do it." Douglas told me, slightly impatient. I sighed, deciding to humor him. I made the motion with my arm, but this time something strange happened. Well, it was more than strange: a freaking fireball slipped out from between my fingers and flew towards a barrel in the corner of the room. The blow hit it to the ground, while I just stared at my hand, unable to comprehend what just happened.

"What did you do?" I asked, eyes wide. Douglas put his hand on my shoulder.

"Congratulations Leo. You're bionic." He told me. I stared at my hand. I'd wanted to be bionic ever since I met Adam, Bree, and Chase. They were heroes, and as much as I helped, I'd always felt that I would never be the heroes they were without their abilities. And now, it was like something just clicked.

I was bionic. I couldn't believe this. I was finally bionic.

**2016**

I smiled, walking into the training room. Most of the students were hanging around the massive Christmas tree Adam, Jaden, and Douglas had dragged in, preoccupied with their presents. Much to our surprise, between the six of us, we'd managed to scrape up enough money to get everyone a gift for Christmas and still give our usual annual donation to Salvation Army.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Bob and Spin were chasing each other around the tree, wielding their red and blue plastic light sabers around with glee. Taylor, Logan, and the twins were playing Monopoly, while Adam, Bree, and Jaden snacking on Christmas cookies and pie. Calla and Chase were nowhere to be seen, but judging by the show of PDA I caught earlier, they'd taken their holiday celebration to their bedroom.

"Hey Taylor." I stopped by the Monopoly board. She glanced upwards at the sound of my voice.

"Hey Leo, do you want to play?" She asked. I shook my head, smiling at them.

"No thanks. I was wondering though; do you know where Katherine is?" I asked.

"I think she said she was going into the kitchen." Kieran replied as he handed Taylor the dice. "Why?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to talk to her about training." I lied as Taylor rolled.

"Eleven! Nice." Logan mentioned, telling Taylor her amount. I chuckled.

"Have fun, you guys." I told them before heading off to kitchen. Thankfully, I found Katherine exactly where Kieran said she would be. It was a good thing too, since I'd been planning on finding her in here. "What are you doing?" I questioned, leaning against

She froze, her hand literally in the cookie jar. "Don't ya dare be judgin' me, Leo. Jaden made red velvet cookies and I ain't sharin'."

"Dude, I thought Bob ate all of those!" I exclaimed. I had to stop myself from going into the kitchen to steal some from her. I would have taken them right out of her hands, but I knew I needed to stay where I was.

"Fine, they're all yours." I offered. She craned her neck to stare at me, one eyebrow raised skeptically.

"There's a catch, ain't there?" She guessed.

"Uh, yeah. I need to tell you something." I replied. She frowned and put her arms on her hips, her blonde curls falling behind her shoulder.

"Well?" She questioned. I smirked.

"Come here." I motioned for her to come closer. She frowned, but inched closer a few steps. However, she wasn't quite close enough. "What? I'm not going to bite. Come here."

"What is it?" She questioned, coming a little closer. I smirked and lunged forward, pulling her close until we were face to face.

"We're under the mistletoe." I whispered, grinning at her confused expression.

"Mistletoe?" She repeated.

"Yes, it's a Christmas tradition to ki-" I began, but she cut me off.

"I ain't stupid; I know what mistletoe is." She rolled her eyes. "I just thought that you'd make our first kiss be a bit more original than under the mistletoe."

"You've been thinking about our first kiss?" I hummed, looking at her in surprise. She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up." She whispered and leaned in, her lips moving against mine.

**2021**

I smiled a little as Emily reached for a red block, gripping it in her little hands briefly before gently placing it on top of a blue one. It fell immediately, the baby having placed it at such a weird angle that there wasn't a chance that it would have stayed, but she laughed anyway, pleased by the result. Calla smiled from where she sat behind her daughter, the baby propped up against her crossed legs.

"You and Kath thinking of having one?" Calla asked, noticing my reaction. I shook my head.

"Not really. I mean one day, yeah, sure, but right now, I'm more worried about getting her to marry me. We can talk about kids in a couple of years." I replied. Calla shrugged. "So, any tips on getting my grandma to give me the ring?"

Calla snorted. "Good luck with that." She chuckled a little to herself. "Do you remember that time she chased Janelle around town on her scooter?"

I smirked a little at the memory. At the time, I'd actually been really ticked off, but now I had to admit, it was bizarre enough to be extremely funny. "Why does she hate all my girlfriends?" I questioned. Calla shrugged.

"None of them have been good enough for you?" She suggested, gently rubbing Emily's back as the baby leaned over to retrieve the fallen block. "Look, Dooley, just tell her how much you love Katherine."

"And if that doesn't work?" I looked at her. She smirked.

"Oh, please Dooley." She rolled her eyes. "You'll be able to convince her – you're a freaking romantic."

"Be serious." I said.

"I am." She said, even as she laughed. "You can be obnoxiously romantic at times, Dooley. Like, it doesn't happen often, but when it does…dang, boy, you're smooth."

We looked at each other for a moment, then laughed. Emily laughed too, picking up on our amusement.

**2029**

"WHOA!" Charlotte screamed in excitement, racing past me and her mother. Katherine and I exchanged smiles as we followed our seven-year-old into the loft, pleased to see how thrilled she was with the place already. Charlotte stopped at the large windows at the end of the room, placing her hands on them as she stared down at the street. "We're so high!"

"Well, we are on the 109th floor, sweetie." Katherine chuckled in amusement, placing her bag down on top of one of the boxes that had been delivered earlier that day. She looked around at our new home, then at me. "We're gonna have a lot o' unpackin' ta do."

"That is an understatement." I agreed. Charlotte spun around and looked at us.

"Where's my room?" She asked, eyes wide with excitement. I nodded at the stairs on the left side of the kitchen.

"Upstairs on the left." I told her. Her grin widened and she raced towards her room, eager to check it out. "No running on the st-forget it." I muttered as my daughter completely ignored me. Katherine chuckled in amusement at Charlotte's seemingly endless supply of energy. To think, just a few days ago, she'd thrown a fit at the mere idea of leaving the Bionic Headquarters, and now she was so excited that we were in Centium City that she couldn't sit still. "We are never letting her have coffee. Ever."

"Agreed." Katherine smirked, placing her head on my shoulder. "How long until Chase, Calla, and Emily get here?"

"About an hour. They're bringing food." I replied, looking around. Katherine nodded.

"Where do we even start?" She murmured. I smirked.

"I have no idea." I'd never actually had to move before. When my mom had married Big D all those years ago, he'd hired people to move us. Admittedly, we probably could have and should have done that, but it was my and Katherine's first place together – we wanted to be the ones to make it a home (well, with some help from my best friend and step-brother), not some random strangers we'd never met. "You excited?"

"Yeah." I couldn't see her face from where her head was still lying on my shoulder, but I could feel it shift into a wide grin. "You?"

"New job, new apartment, what's not to be excited for? Besides, I've got you." I murmured. She took my hand and grinned.

"So, you said we had an hour, right?" She asked, stepping in front of me. I nodded. "Well, Charlie's busy in 'er room…why not go check out ours? We should probably break in that new bed, right?"

I smirked. "I like how you think." I murmured, kissing her.


	31. Alivia "Geminus" McLean

**2015**

I stuck my tongue out between my teeth, cocking my head to the side as I looked over my bedroom. I liked it well enough - the walls were my favorite shade of green, and I had a few pictures up, along with a poster from my favorite band. I was going to miss my old friends, Chloe and Hannah, but Dad said I could go visit them on holiday, and now that I was living in America, I was going to be closer to Jaime. We were still living in different states, sure, but going to visit each other would be so much easier. We could go on actual dates instead of just grabbing smoothies after a foreign mission or video chatting.

"You settling in alright, sweetheart?" I looked up as Dad poked his head in.

"Yeah. I love the house, Dad." I smiled brightly at him. "My room is amazing."

"I'm glad you like it." He gave me a thin smile, but I could see the stress lines on his face. "Did you want anything in particular for dinner?"

"Oh no, I'm cooking." I insisted. He gave me a look. "Let me handle dinner."

"I can cook, sweetie." He told me.

"Yeah, but I want to. I want to try out a new recipe." It wasn't totally the truth. I really just wanted to help out around the house as much as I could.

My Dad was tired - you could see it all over his face - and I wanted to try and help. Because as much as he tried to blame it on the move and his work with the League, we both knew the divorce was a large part of it. And though Dad insisted that it had nothing to do with me, I knew why Mom had really left, and I kinda felt guilty about it. Not about her leaving - we'd never really gotten along, even before she found out about Jaime a year ago - but more for everything he'd had to deal with as a result.

"Fine." Dad relented and I grinned. "Just don't burn down the kitchen."

"Promise." I assured him. He nodded and went to leave, then paused when he remembered something.

"Don't forget you have that meeting with Diaz tomorrow." He reminded me. I nodded and lifted up the three files I'd been going over on the plane.

"I remember. I've been preparing." I told him. He smiled.

"Good girl." He commented before heading downstairs, presumably to finish unpacking our gear. I smiled and glanced over the files, the names on them already memorized. Kaz Broadman, Dani Short, and Oliver Short. Whoever these Normos were, they had to be important if Horace Diaz wanted me to know everything about them. And with this being one of my last major assignments as a sidekick, I wasn't going to let him down.

**2015**

I glanced inside the classroom, finding Dani Short inside, working hard on what looked like an essay or some other written paper. I hadn't expected to find one of the Normos so quickly – I'd hoped to get settled in for at least a day before my assignment began – but I supposed it would be easier to introduce myself quickly, and I figured that Dani would be my easiest in to the group.

I wasn't supposed to tell them I had powers, or that I was a superhero (well, sidekick, but I didn't see why the difference mattered), so I needed to figure out a different way to be able to keep an eye on them. From what little recon I'd managed to do on them, Kaz seemed to be the easiest to approach, and Oliver seemed to be the nicest, but Dani and I seemed to have more in common. Hell, if I was right about her, we'd actually be likely to become friends without my mission.

"Hello?" I asked, stepping into the classroom. Dani looked up, a little startled. "Is this the room for History 101?"

"Yeah, but the class doesn't start for another twenty minutes." She dropped her pencil and leaned back in her chair to look at me. "You new? I haven't seen you before."

"Yeah, I just moved her. My dad got posted here." I replied, taking a seat in the desk in front of her.

"From Ireland?" She asked. I nodded. "Huh, I thought the whole red-headed Irish girl thing was a stereotype."

I smiled a little at the gentle teasing tone in her voice. "Well, we're not ALL red-heads." I laughed a little. "But my parents are, so I am too. The name's Alivia, by the way. Alivia McLean."

"Dani Short." She shook my hand. I glanced at her paper, curious as to what she was working on. Oliver was supposed to be the academically-inclined one of the three, so I didn't think it was school work, or at the very least, it was a last minute assignment that she was desperately trying to finish before class.

"Late homework?" I guessed. She smirked, but shook her head.

"Trying to write a play." She explained. I looked at her, confused.

"Why?" I certainly hadn't expected that answer. Were Normos usually this unpredictable?

"Long story short, my brother and I lied to our dad, and now we're just trying to get away with it before he finds out." She offered me a lopsided, sheepish grin. I smiled a little in amusement, already feeling like this assignment was going to be a lot more interesting than I'd originally thought it would be.

"…Need some help?" I offered. She looked at me, a little surprised, but ended up grinning back at me. Oh yeah, this was going to be interesting.

**2016**

I came to with a deep ache in my right leg and a head full of clouds. Despite this, it didn't take me long to figure out where I was – the pain meds I was definitely on weren't so strong that I wouldn't recognize Mighty Med hospital.

"Hey." I turned my head and smiled when I saw Oliver and Kaz sitting across from me.

"Hey," I murmured, blinking at them in confusion before everything suddenly came back to me. "Shit!"

"Easy, easy." Oliver cautioned as I moved to sit up. He didn't have to though – the moment I moved, the ache in my leg turned to fire and I had to stop before I passed out from the pain.

"Jaime." I managed through grinded teeth as Oliver gently pushed me back into the pillow.

"She's okay, just sleeping off a mild concussion." He promised me. I nodded, relief coursing through me.

"Did we get her?" I mumbled, trying to push the pain down again. There was no answer, and when I looked at the boys, I saw the answer. "Oh, Oliver…"

"It's fine." He muttered. I glanced at Kaz, noting the concern on his face. God, I couldn't even imagine what the twins were going through. I didn't have a good relationship with my own mother, but this…this was so much worse.

"Where's Dani?" I asked, noticing my best friend's absence. While they were both definitely feeling this loss pretty hard, at least I had an idea of what Oliver was thinking, while Dani was a complete wild card at times.

"Bathroom." Oliver replied. He paused. "Actually, she's been in there a while."

"I'll go check on her." Kaz offered, standing up. Oliver looked doubtful, but he immediately waved him off. "She's probably just having a problem with her dress or something. You know how she hates those things."

Okay, even Dani wouldn't get confused by such a simple dress. But as Kaz back away, he gave me this look, and I realized that he was hoping I could talk to Oliver while he checked on Dani. I gave him a slight nod (not that Oliver noticed) to let him know I would. Kaz probably felt terrible too, wanting to help both of them but unable to be in two places at once.

"You okay?" I asked gently as Kaz slipped into the girl's bathroom.

"I'm fine." Oliver replied. I gave him a look. "What do you want me to say?"

"The truth?" I suggested. He sighed. "I'm so sorry, Oliver."

"I just…I can't believe all this." He sighed. "I mean, did anyone see this coming?"

"Well, Dani did used to make those jokes about her being evil…" I trailed off, realizing that wasn't helping. "No, no one did. Sometimes you just can't tell, Oliver."

"I mean, when Skylar was evil, I knew something was up. Something was off, I just couldn't figure out what. Mom…" He shook his head helplessly. "This is all so messed up."

"I'm sorry." I apologized gently. He nodded. "Hey," I waited until he looked at me, "we'll figure this out, okay? I'm not going to say that it'll all be perfect, but we'll figure it out. Promise."

He offered me a weak smile just as Kaz stepped out of the girl's bathroom. "Thanks, Liv."

Dani followed Kaz out a moment later, tossing her shoes into the nearby trashcan as she did. I cleared my throat as they came over.

"I hate casts." I complained, trying to lighten the mood with a little needless complaining.

**2017**

"Here you go, honey." The waitress told me as she placed my food in front of me, giving me a kind smile before heading off to talk with another customer. I picked at my fish and chips disinterestedly, not particularly hungry. I should probably eat, I knew that, and fish and chips were normally my favorite food, but I just wasn't in the mood. Part of me wanted to blame it on the way my shoulder and tailbone ached, an obnoxious reminder of how close Hunter Bounty came to kicking my ass earlier, but I hadn't been hungry before the fight either.

Whatever. If I didn't finish it, I'd just bring it back to the motel I was staying in and pick at it later. At least the coffee here wasn't awful.

I sighed, trying to convince myself to eat, as the news played on a TV above. It wasn't the boring, depressing stuff - they'd gotten through the world's disasters right off the bat - but had moved onto the fluff stories of kittens and celebrities.

"-mpic athlete known as Clutch may not be participating in this year's games after an incident at an Olympic rally in Centium City, Illinois." The reporter was saying. "Earlier today, an overly excited fan dropped a 500 lbs. weight on Clutch's foot after not being picked to help spot for the weightlifter. There has been no word on how badly Clutch was injured or whether or not he will still be able to participate in the games."

I smirked a little - what kind of idiot would do something so-

They were playing footage of it on the TV. My thoughts stopped in their tracks, my fork slipping out from between my fingers as I could do nothing but stare at the screen in shock.

Oliver looked so apologetic as Clutch hopped around on one foot, face twisted in pure agony. Kaz and Dani were both off to the side, watching the scene with wide eyes.

A year ago, this would have been funny. A year ago, I would have taken a picture of the screen and sent it to Dani so we could make fun of her brother together. But now...

Until thirty seconds ago, I'd thought they'd been killed in the Mighty Med Massacre. I'd thought that I'd lost all of them, not just my Dad and Jaime, but Dani, and Kaz, and Oliver, and Skylar too. At least three of them were alive though, somewhere in Illinois, and apparently up to their old tricks.

I could feel tears prickle the corners of my eyes and had to stop myself from crying in relief. They were alive. They were okay.

I had to admit, there was a part of me that wanted to rush to Centium City in that moment. To do what, I wasn't sure - maybe yell at them for scaring me, maybe hug them and not let them out of my sight ever again. But then I thought about all the villains out there that still needed to be stopped, and how Kaz and the twins (and hopefully Skylar too) were okay and safe. I didn't know what they were up to in Centium City, or why they'd gone all the way to Illinois, but they were safe. What kind of friend would I be if I dragged them back into the danger and chaos by tracking them down? If they were safe, why not let things stay as they are?

"You alright there, sweetie?" The waitress came over, sensing something was up. I forced a smile onto my face and looked at her.

"Perfect. Uh, can I get the bill?" I requested. Dinner could wait. I needed to go put some no good criminal back in prison.

**2017**

I smiled a little as I watched Spotlight through the window, watching through the open door as he joked around with another girl in the backroom. I had to admit, despite the fact that we hadn't always gotten along all that well, I was glad to see that he was alright.

"So, that's Spotlight, right?" Barry asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked exhausted – I made a mental note to get Crossbow to come with me to the next recruitment thing if it happened this late again – but eager to meet more heroes. Personally, I thought he was looking forward to having another guy to hang out with. Alan had been getting on his nerves lately (despite having mellowed out quite a bit since the attack, he could still be rather obnoxious at times), and he'd made a couple of cracks about needed more testosterone on the team. They were only jests – I knew he respected me as a hero – but maybe he was right. At the very least, another set of eyes would be a good idea.

"Yep." I smirked and pushed open the door. Liam stepped out of the breakroom and stopped at the counter. "What can I get you…" He trailed off, staring at me. I smirked a little.

"Well, for starters, we'll have a couple of white chocolate mochas." Curse Angela for getting me hooked on those overly expensive, far too sugary drinks. "And then maybe we should talk."

"Gem? Geminus?" He whispered, eyes wide. I smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Spotlight. It's been a long time." I told him. He just stared at me until the other girl walked over, a little confused.

"Hey…" She trailed off. I looked at her, realizing that she looked vaguely familiar. She was rather pretty, with caramel colored eyes that kinda drew you in. Yeah, I'd definitely seen her before, but I didn't think we'd ever spoken.

"Oh, hey." Spotlight seemed to shake himself out of his shock. He looked at his friend. "Lily, meet Barry Clarke and Geminus, former sidekick to Clone Master. Gem, Barry, this is the Scarlet Ace."

I looked at her, smiling. Another hero who survived. What were the odds? "Lily." She corrected. "Hi."

"Hi." I smiled back at her.

**2020**

"Hey." I sighed, using my shoulder to pin my cell to my ear as I shoved a bag of pretzels under my arm. There wasn't much in the tiny gas station I'd stopped at, and I'd have much rather stop somewhere with better food options, but as it was about two in the morning, I seriously doubted that anything else would be open.

 _"Hey,"_  Lily yawned tiredly into the phone.

"Did I wake you? I'm sorry." I apologized, moving onto the drinks section.

 _"Don't be. I told you to call."_  There was some shuffling on the other end of the line.  _"How'd it go?"_

"Uh..." I trailed off, looking back at the car. Dani was still in the passenger seat, asleep with her head against the window, one hand still tucked between her chin and the glass.

 _"Baby?"_  Lily asked when I didn't respond.

"Sorry. Yeah, I got her. We're coming home." I replied, grabbing a couple of Gatorades in flavors I didn't think Dani hated and heading to the cash. "I mean, I can't guarantee that she'll stick around, but..."

 _"One day at a time."_  Lily finished for me. I smiled a little as I dug through my pocket for a twenty.  _"How is she?"_

"Quiet." I replied honestly as I paid the disinterested cashier. I grabbed my bag of stuff and headed outside, but leaned up against the store instead of heading straight to the car. "She didn't say a word the entire ride. She's asleep now - she's exhausted, Lils. You can tell just by looking at her. This whole Lexi thing - she's obsessed."

 _"She feels guilty, Alivia. About her mom, what happened with Oliver, Kaz, and the others. This is her way of making things right."_  Lily reasoned. I heard the TV turn on in the background. I sighed.

"Well, it's stupid, obsessive, and dangerous. She's burning the candle at both ends." I muttered, annoyed. Part of me was angry at Dani - first she dropped off the face of the Earth with barely a goodbye, and now I find her and she's practically killing herself to try and make up for betraying her team. But the other part of me was angry with myself, because it had been my plan that got her into all this mess to begin with.

 _"Yeah, well, I wonder who she learned that from?"_ Lily teased. I sighed, knowing that she was right.

"Yeah, well..." I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "She made me get my act together and create the League. I guess it's my turn to return the favor."

 _"Our turn."_  Lily corrected. I smiled a little.  _"How long until you're home?"_

" A couple of hours." I replied with a soft smile. "You don't have to wait up."

 _"That's okay – Gray's Anatomy is on. I'll see you two when you get home."_  She promised.  _"Love you."_

"Love you too." I hung up, hoping that she would go back to sleep. She probably wouldn't, but I hoped that at least one of us would get enough sleep to be able to keep everyone in line tomorrow. But at this rate, Liam would end up in charge...I shuddered, not even wanting to think of what kind of trouble they'd all get themselves into.

I sighed, climbing back into the car. Dani mumbled something in her sleep - I would never mention anything to her when she was awake, but it sounded suspiciously like a name - but didn't wake. I shook my head and started the car, glancing at my best friend before driving off.

**2021**

"Oh, I missed you." I laughed a little as Lily dropped into our bed and snuggled up with our pillows. I smirked as I dropped our bags onto the ground by the closet. "I'm never leaving, ever."

"It's just a bed, baby." I pointed out. She sighed and rolled over so that she was facing me.

"I've been sleeping on a concrete floor for five months, babe. And that couch in the penthouse didn't exactly make up for that." She pointed out, pouting a little. I sat down on the edge of the bed, gently running my hand through her hair.

"I'm sorry." I apologized. She shook her head, closing her eyes a little and leaning into my hand. She was tired, I could tell, and I half expected her to fall asleep mid-conversation.

"No, it's okay. There was only one bed left, and Rani needed it more. Plus, Kieran had to sleep on the couch too." There had only been one capsule left as well - as big as the penthouse was, it hadn't been equipped to comfortable house fourteen people at once - and the hazel-eyed boy had instantly offered it to his girlfriend.

"No, I mean, I'm sorry we didn't find you guys earlier." I apologized. That got Lily to look at me.

"That wasn't your fault, Alivia." She told me, her tired voice still managing to sound stern. I shook my head.

"We trusted S.H.I.R.T.. I trusted them. I know better than that." I muttered, half to myself. Lily let out a frustrated sigh and sat up.

"You, Alivia McLean, are the most annoyingly self-critical person I know." She told me.

"Yeah, but I'm the hottest one, right?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Yes, but that doesn't change the fact that it can be downright annoying." She told me. "It wasn't your fault, it was that freak Argento's, and we don't have to worry about him anymore, now do we?"

"No." I sighed. She smirked triumphantly.

"Good." She declared before dropping down into the bed. She closed her eyes with a sigh, ready to fall asleep then and there. "Now either come join me or slide over so I can have the covers to myself."

I laughed lightly before toeing off my shoes and climbing under the covers with my girlfriend.

It was so nice to be home.

**2030**

"Cool!" I smiled as James ran past me and Lily to follow Benny and Seraphina towards the bounce house. I'd been a little worried about how the birthday party would go - James hadn't made any new friends at his school (though he'd only been there for a couple of weeks so I wasn't quite worried yet) and he was older than any of the other of the League members' kids. Kira and Kameron were the next oldest, and yet they were only four years old.

It was part of the reason why I'd convinced Oliver to come for a visit, and Jennifer to let Benjamin come say hi to the kids. Sera was a couple of years younger than James, sure, but was fairly mature for her age, and Benny was pretty excited to hang with the League any time he got the chance, so I figured the three of them would hit it off.

Thankfully, we were right - the three of them had been inseparable from the moment they'd gotten here, doing everything from eating together to playing in the bounce house together.

"They seem to be having fun." Oliver mentioned, walking over to me. He smirked as Benny did a canonball into the middle of the bounce house, causing both James and Sera to fly into the air with shrieks of amusement. "He's adjusted well."

"Yeah. We were worried, but he's the perfect child." He was too, almost to a freaky degree. Always polite, always good with the younger kids even though he'd confided in Lily that he would rather be playing with older kids. He had his moments where he missed his old friends, or didn't get why there were certain rules to the base (he particularly wasn't a fan of not telling anyone his moms were superheroes, but I knew he would eventually understand the rules as he got older), but all in all, he was a really, really good kid. "How's Caldera?"

"It's okay." He shrugged. I looked at him. "Seraphina starts school next month."

"So? Oliver, if she's anything like you and Skylar, she'll be a stellar student. I think...I actually don't know how school works on that crazy planet." I admitted. He chuckled a little.

"They have private classes and stuff, but..." He trailed off. I looked at him and he sighed. "Every Calderan girl looks the same, even when they're young. Sera will stand out."

I glanced at the girl, still playing on bounce house. I could see what he meant - while Seraphina looked a lot more like her mother than she did her father, her skin was lighter, her cheekbones a little higher, and her eyes shining an icy blue that definitely stood out compared to the usual warm brown. "So? Trust me, it'll make her a lot easier to find when you pick her up from school, trust me. Why does it matter?"

"It doesn't, not to us. But...I'm guessing you never got picked on in school for being different." He pointed out. I sighed, unable to deny the fact that I'd always been one of the popular kids at my school, and I was well aware that Oliver, Dani, and Kaz had all been bullied in their younger years. "Kids can cruel, on any planet, Liv, and I just don't want to give them something to target."

"She'll be fine." I promised him. "She's a tough kid, like her parents."

"Well, yes, but..." He trailed off, clearly still worried.

"And who knows, maybe it'll help her make friends. Don't count the eggs before they're lain, Oliver." I told him. He smiled, a little confused.

"I don't think that's how that one goes." He pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"Did you understand what I meant?" I asked. He nodded. "Then don't be annoying about it."

He laughed at that as James came running over, Seraphina and Benny at his heels. "Mom, Mom! Can we have cake now?" He asked, grinning. "Please?"

"I suppose..." I trailed off, smiling at his smile widened. "You go see if Mama wants any and I'll go grab the plates, okay?"

"Okay!" James grinned, gave me a quick hug around the legs, then raced off to find Lily. I smiled as he went, thrilled to see him having fun.


	32. Jaden Parker

**2013**

"What the hell?" Trent stopped short as we made our way into the cafeteria. It took me a minute to figure out what was wrong – he had the tendency to overreact to even the smallest inconveniences, so it really could have been everything – but then I spotted them. Our table, where we usually sat with our team's cheerleaders, had been taken over by a bunch of the new kids. And what was worse was that my sister, who definitely knew the unspoken seating rules of the cafeteria, was with them, whispering in the ear of one of the new guys.

"Trent," I started to warn him – messing with the new guys was one thing, but Calla was another. He ignored me, heading to the table. He immediately targeted Leo Dooley, a new friend of my sisters, and quickly sized him up, literally smelling him. The scrawny kid immediately apologized and backed away from the table.

"Hey, that's my seat. Get lost before I use you like a napkin." Trent snapped at the guy Calla had been whispering to. My sister immediately stood up.

"Chase, we should probably go. He's not very absorbent." She told Trent. But the guy, Chase, didn't move. Ticked off, Trent grabbed Chase's drink and spilled it on the table purposefully.

"Oh! A spill! I think I'm going to wipe it off with your face." Trent warned. Calla sent me a look and I sighed.

"Trent, that's enough." I put my hand on our team captain's shoulder, trying to get him to back off a little. "You've made your point."

Given another couple of seconds, Calla would surely be able to convince them to leave and everything would be back to normal. No need for anyone to get hurt. But of course, Trent wouldn't listen. "I decide when it's enough, Jay!" He snapped.

Suddenly, Calla, Leo, and their other friends all backed up. I did too, realizing that something was wrong seconds before Chase grabbed Trent by the shoulders and pinned him to the table, a scowl on his face.

"Think again, bubblemick!" He shouted in a surprisingly deep voice. "I'm going to rip our your kneecaps and use them as hockey pucks!"

I glanced at my sister, wondering what kind of psychopath she'd become friends with, but she looked as worried as we are. The oldest of the new kids stumbled over to them and said something, but I couldn't quite catch it.

Chase released Trent and he stumbled backwards, caught off guard by the audacity of the new kid. He looked at us briefly, and I knew everything was about to go to hell.

"You have no idea who you're messing with, okay? PUDDING CUPS!" Trent held out his hands expectantly, and two kids rushed over to give him the pudding cups from their lunches. Chase immediately pulled them out of his hands.

"Oh, I'll take those!" He exclaimed before squeezing them so that the pudding sprayed out at us. I saw his friends gasp, their eyes going wide.

"You're dead!" Trent shouted.

"So dead." I agreed, glancing at the pudding stains on my uniform. Okay, maybe the guys on the football team weren't the best people, but I'd always made sure that they left CeeCee alone. None of my friends would ever mess with her, but yet, she didn't seem capable of stopping her new friend from messing with me. Not cool, and definitely not going to stand.

**2014**

"Calla, we're going home. Now. Then we're calling the cops." I told her. Getting kidnapped, being saved by a bunch of…I didn't know what to call them to be honest, but I was at the end of my rope. My sister shook her head.

"No." She replied. I stared at her.

"Did you miss the part where we were kidnapped?" I demanded. She sighed. "Not to mention this freak show!" I shouted, gesturing at her friends.

"Jaden, you can't tell anyone about that!" she exclaimed. I crossed my arms.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't." I demanded. Calla looked helplessly at me, tears forming in her eyes. It suddenly occurred to me that her act before with Douglas could have been exactly that. An act. A brave front to hide how scared she'd been. She would never admit that she was scared of course, but she always had her tell-tale signs.

"If you tell anyone," Bree addressed me. "We could be taken away from our family. Please Jaden. You have to keep this a secret."

I opened my mouth to object, but decided better of it. "Explain. Now." I ordered. Chase nodded.

"Alright. You're delusional." He told me. Calla elbowed him in the ribs.

"Dude, I think the bionic cat is out of the bag." She told him. Adam looked at her, wide eyed.

"You made a bionic cat?" he questioned. "Where? I want one!"

Calla giggled, some of the tension in her shoulders disappearing. "It's just an expression Adam. There's no cat."

"Aww…" he trailed off sadly. I looked at them.

"Seriously. What are you?" I demanded.

"We're bionic super humans." Chase explained.

"So you're robots?" I guessed. "Like Autobots or something?"

Calla groaned. "They're not robots!" Bree however, laughed.

"What is with you two and transformer?" she asked. Calla raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh come on! Not three weeks ago did you come to us claiming that Marcus' vacuum was a Decipticon."

"A, it totally was. And B, can we focus here?" she glanced at me, and smiled guiltily. I sent her an angry glare in response.

"No, we're humans. We just have bionic abilities given to us through chips in our necks." Chase explained.

"Yeah, I've got super strength and laser vision." Adam added. "Bree's got super speed, and Chase…uh, Chase…"

"Is really smart and can use the force." Calla finished for him. I nodded, still looking at them warily.

"So, what are you though? Some sort of government experiment?" I assumed. They all shook their heads.

"The government doesn't know about us. And they can't know about us either." They all looked terrified at the thought of being discovered.

"Why not?" I asked, frowning.

"They'd do experiments and other things to us." Bree explained with a shudder. "Not to mention, Mr. Davenport would get arrested, although he wasn't the one to do this to us."

I nodded. "Alright, speaking of Mr. Davenport, who the hell was that guy?" I gestured at the house.

"Douglas. He's technically our birth father, and Mr. Davenport's brother." Chase explained. "But he wanted to turn us into weapons." I nodded. It made sense. "Mr. Davenport saved us and raised us to be heroes."

"Heroes." I repeated, smirking. "Like Nightwing, Hulk, and Black Widow?" Those were the superheroes that they most reminded me of. They all smirked, relaxing a little. But I could see they were still uncomfortable. Calla must have noticed it too.

"Hey, can we go over to your place?" She asked Chase, hugging herself slightly. "This place is creepy, and after Douglas kidnapped us, I'd like to grab a weapon or two from Mr. Davenport's weapon's vault." I stared at her.

"Whoa, wait a minute. Your boss has a weapon's vault?" I asked. She nodded. "Okay, yeah. Me too. I totally want a high tech weapon."

They all looked at me. "What? If anymore of your messed up relatives come after me or Calla, we'll need something to defend ourselves with. I don't feel right about using you all as personal body guards."

"Y-You won't tell?" Bree asked, a little surprised. I shrugged.

"Nah. Calla would hate me. Besides, it would be a poor way to thank you for saving our lives." Bree beamed happily. Man, she had a pretty smile.

I looked around at her and the others as we headed for the Davenport house. So, clearly they were…something else. But maybe that wasn't a bad thing. From what I already knew about them, they seemed to be pretty good people. Maybe they were actual heroes.

**2015**

Bree and I sat in the lab as we waited for the others to return with the ice cream. Thankfully the cure had seemed to work fast, and she seemed to be returning to full strength. "Jaden, I'm so sorry that you had to give up your award." She apologized, sounding embarrassed.

"It wasn't that big a deal anyway." Sure, it sucked that I wasn't going to get it now, but honestly, I didn't care that much anymore anyway.

"You worked so hard for it though." Bree objected. I gave her a look.

"Bree, you're way more important to me than some dumb trophy." I told her. She hadn't meant for all this to happen, and really, who cared about the trophy when she could have died?

"Really?" She asked doubtfully. I grabbed her hands, wincing a little when I felt how cold they were.

"Of course. I could win a trophy again next year. It can replaced. You can't." I insisted. She smiled, giggling. "Hey, I'm serious here."

"I know, it's just…that's so sweet." She told me. I grinned and leaned forward, but paused before kissing her.

"Just tell me if you want me to stop." I whispered. She was still kinda weak, and if this wasn't what she wanted, I wasn't going to push it. But she didn't say anything, smiling instead, so went in for the kiss, keeping it short and simple.

"Jaden…" She whispered, nose practically touching mine. I smiled.

"Bree, life's short. I like you. You like me." I wanted her to know that this wasn't just some one time thing, that I really wanted this. That I really wanted us. "What have we got to lose?"

She didn't answer at first, instead bringing her chin up to kiss me again. But when she pulled back, she was smiling. "Nothing. We have absolutely nothing to lose."

**2015**

" _Hello?"_ I let out a sigh of relief when my sister finally picked up the phone.

"What the hell, CeeCee?" I demanded, stopping mid-step. I'd been pacing around my dorm room for nearly forty minutes now, trying to get a hold of anyone.

" _Hey, could you…maybe not yell?"_  Calla asked after a moment, her voice smaller than usual.  _"It's a long story, but I kinda have a concussion and yelling is…ow."_

I took a deep breath; yelling wasn't going to do anything anyway. "Does your concussion have anything to do with Adam, Bree, and Chase, you know, coming out of the bionic closet?"

" _I really don't think that's what we're calling it, but sure, yeah, sorta…definitely."_  Calla admitted.  _"I wasn't sure if you'd heard about that."_

"Bionic Humans In California…yeah, that's international news, CeeCee." I growled. She didn't respond and I sighed. "Sorry, it's just that I've been trying to call you guys all day."

" _Sorry. Davenport confiscated everyone's phones after what happened. The press has been all over everyone."_  She explained. I sighed, that did make sense.  _"They're okay, Jay. Promise."_

"You sure?" I asked, even though I dropped onto the bed in relief.

" _Yeah. They're all a little shaken, but aside from that, they're okay."_  She promised. I nodded.

"Alright. You? You mentioned a concussion?" I asked. I could practically hear her roll her eyes on the other line.

" _I'm fine, Jay. Just a minor head injury. Got in a little tiff with Krane's new pet."_  She sneered the words, clearly annoyed.  _"Trust me, I got off easy compared to Leo…"_

I frowned. "What happened to Leo?"

" _Um…"_  She hesitated.  _"I don't know if it's something I should say over the phone. He's fine now, though. Better than fine, actually."_

She seemed a little smug about that, so I didn't push her for information. "Alright. You're sure you're okay?"

" _Yeah, I…"_  Her voice died in her throat. I waited patiently as she figured out her response.  _"It's just been a day, you know?"_

"You almost lost him." It would make sense for my little sister to be a little freaked out.

" _We almost lost them."_  She corrected. " _God, Jay…"_

"I know." I murmured. But I didn't really, did I? I wasn't there, I hadn't been there. I looked around my dorm room, hating that I was here. I should be there. I should be home. I should be with her.

The decision was made instantly. "I'm coming home."

" _I thought your next school break wasn't for another month?"_  Calla asked, confused.

"No, I'm coming home, soon. As soon as I can. Screw this school, I can go back to MCH." I announced, sitting down at my desk.

Calla didn't answer at first, then I heard a small snicker.  _"Mom's going to kill you."_  She declared. I smirked a little.

"I can handle Mom." I assured her. Calla laughed at that. "I can!"

" _Hold on a sec…it's just Jaden, geez!"_  My sister shouted.  _"I'm grounded, by the way. Really shouldn't be on the phone."_

"Makes sense. You kinda deserve it." I told her. Calla gasped dramatically. "Well, you have lied to her for a few years now."

" _Oh yeah?"_  Calla cleared her throat.  _"Hey, Mom? Jaden says he can take you!"_

"Calla, why would you-" I sighed as the phone got passed to my mother.

**2017**

"Here." Chase handed me a cup of coffee. I nodded at him gratefully before glancing at the veranda. Bree was outside, telling the others about her new sneaker promotion. My sister was sitting on the ground between Kaz and Skylar, laughing at some joke Kaz made at Bree's expense.

"So, she has no idea?" I questioned. Chase sipped at his own drink.

"None whatsoever." He replied. He paused briefly, licking his lips, before glancing at me. "She' going to say yes, right?"

"Oh, definitely. She's always been a little too much in love with you for her own good." I replied. "I don't think she's capable of saying no."

Chase looked at me oddly for the way I phrased it, but it was true. For a scientist, Calla had always followed her heart more than her head, and while it may have brought her a life of excitement, it also put her at risk more than I'd ever been comfortable with. Maybe I'd always thought that because I was a bit protective of my baby sister, but in the end, it didn't matter - Calla would go after what she wanted, regardless of the risk. "Dude." Chase said simply, looking at me in vague annoyance.

"I'm right and you know it." I told him, rolling my eyes. I looked at him. "She's reckless, always has been. But if it's any consolation, I'm glad she ended up with you. She needed to end up with someone who's logical and not so emotional, like you."

"Yeah? I didn't think you liked me very much at first." Chase admitted.

"I didn't." I replied. He looked at me, offended. "Dude, the first time we met, you were Spike. Not exactly a stellar first impression."

"Right...I apologized for that, right?" He chuckled sheepishly. I shrugged.

"Probably. Doesn't matter - you grew on me." We both chuckled a little at that. "Look, you're good for her. That's all I'm saying."

"She's good for me too." Chase mentioned. I nodded. "So, are you and Bree ever...?"

"Maybe." I shrugged. I glanced at him. "Long distance hasn't made things easy. But you know, maybe one day."

"Cool." He said simply, deciding not to push the topic when he saw Bree coming towards the door. She poked her head in.

"If you two are done gossiping like old ladies, I want to brag more about my commercial." She announced. I swallowed the rest of my coffee whole.

"Coming honey." I replied, getting up. Chase chuckled a little, grabbing the cups and heading to the sink while I followed my girlfriend out.

**2018**

"Alright, so…I know we said no gifts this year…" I wasn't really sure how to start this conversation, but this seemed like the right time to do so. With everything going on, Bree sounded like she needed some cheering up.

"No! No, Jaden!" Bree looked at me, heartbroken. "I didn't get you anything."

"It's okay, I promised." I kissed her reassuringly on the forehead. "Besides, this is for the both of us."

She looked confused at that. "…Alright?" She said slowly. I opened my fist, revealing the key I'd been holding in the palm of my hand. "Jaden?"

"I quit my job at the Academy." She stared at me in shock, so I quickly continued. "I have nothing against your Dad or anyone at the Academy, but everyone was kind of doing their own thing, and I really wasn't actually working. Davenport was paying me because he's loyal to his employees, but I wasn't really earning my keep."

Ever since the Academy got broken up into teams, people had been coming and going at such strange hours that it wasn't really worth cooking a large meal for everyone. I'd really spent most of my days helping with Mission Command, but I wasn't particularly good at that either. "Alright, I guess that makes sense." Bree agreed, though she was still clearly confused. "But I don't get what that key has to do with this."

I grinned, watching her face for her reaction. "I'm moving to Centium City next month." As expected, her entire face lit up with shock, excitement, and joy. "I'm going to take a couple of classes at the community college, get officially certified as a chef, then get a real job at a real restaurant."

"You're moving to Centium. You're moving to Centium?" She breathed, eyes wide.

"So we can be together." I added, much to her pleasure. "I got an apartment in town, but unfortunately not in the building. Obviously, I'm not expecting you to move out of anything – the team is here, and so is everything else," I'd much rather her move in with me, but I understood why she couldn't, at least not until this whole mess was cleaned up, "but I thought you should have your own key."

"My own key." She was grinning. "Jaden, you're moving to Centium City!"

"I'm guessing you like that part." I teased. She didn't even answer, instead pulling me in for a long, hungry kiss.

**2021**

"Ooh." Bree laughed as I came back into the room, carrying a giggling 7-month-old. She held out her arms, taking him from me before cooing in his ear. "Did you get daddy wet?"

"Yes, he did." I grumbled, pulling my now soiled t-shirt over my head and tossing it into the laundry bin at the end of the hall. "And don't laugh - he did it to you two weeks ago."

"Yes, but he did it to you today, which makes it funny to me." Bree corrected, carrying Noah over to his high chair. "It's almost time for lunch anyway." She said to our son. "You hungry, Bug?"

Noah clapped his hands together, grinning, though I guessed that it was more at the chance to be in his high chair. He loved that thing for some reason. Bree figured it was just because he knew that the chair meant time for food.

"Calla wants us over around 6, by the way." I mentioned, remembering the dinner my sister and Chase were hosting later. "Faith's coming, possibly her boyfriend too."

"I'm surprised she wants to come hang out with everything that happened last week." Bree mentioned. I stepped past her to grab the bread out of the bread box.

"You're sure you're okay?" I asked her. I knew I must be annoying her with all these questions, but it was good to check in. "Not everyone's first curation project gets interrupted by armed gunmen."

"I'm okay, promise." She assured me. I nodded and stepped back as she went to the fridge. She held a package of lunch meat over her head for me to take before looking for the sliced cheese. "Poor Rani though, getting shot like that. It's getting dangerous around here."

I sighed, leaning against the counter and crossing my arms. In his chair, Noah was watching us both with wide, happy eyes. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that."

"About what?" Bree asked, holding the cheese out behind her. I took it and placed it on the counter, waiting as Bree pulled out mustard and mayonnaise.

"Centium City is hardly the safest city out there. It wasn't before the Elite Force moved in, but you have to admit, it's gotten worse over the past couple of years." I said slowly. Bree looked at me, her gaze locked with mine as she closed the fridge.

"That's not our fault." She said, sounding a little hurt.

"No, no, I know that. Of course it isn't your fault - you guys are doing everything you can to keep people safe." I assured her. "But you have to admit, where teams of people like you guys attract danger."

"Well..." Bree started, but I shook my head, cutting her off.

"I'm not blaming anyone, it's just a fact, honey. And that's not really the point I'm trying to make." I told her. She frowned and leaned back against the fridge.

"Then what is?" She questioned. I looked at Noah long enough for her to follow my gaze.

"Is this really the best place to raise a kid?" I asked quietly. Bree stopped and looked at me sharply.

"You want to leave Centium City." She realized. I nodded.

"My uncle Tyler is opening up a restaurant in Los Angelos. He wants me to work for him." I told her. She frowned.

"When did he make the offer?" She asked.

"A couple of days ago. I told him I'd think about it." I admitted. She sighed and I stepped forward, placing my hands on her arms. "Bree, you could work at any museum. You're Bionic Bree - any place would be lucky to have you. If you don't want to go to LA, I'll take a job elsewhere, but...look." I sighed. "I don't want our kid to get caught up in all of this danger. And I know it's where the others are, but Centium City is dangerous."

Bree bit her lip, considering it. She sighed. "Kieran, Taylor, Liam, and Lily are still missing."

"Obviously we help them first." I said before she could say anything else. "I was talking about after we've made sure they're safe, before the next disaster hits."

"You think there's going to another disaster?" She asked me.

"Bree, there's always another disaster. But there are people - the League, Chase and Calla, the Academy - that can handle it. We don't have to always be on the front lines."

She looked over at Noah. "We save Taylor and the others...then, then we'll talk about it again." She agreed. I nodded.

"Okay." I agreed, taking a step back. I knew that was the best I was going to get right now. Bree didn't want to leave Centium City - it was where Chase, Calla, Skylar, Kaz, and Oliver were. Maybe even Dani, if Kaz convinced her to stay. It was home. But it shouldn't be Noah's home. Not if he was ever going to get a chance at a normal life like we wanted him to have.

**2027**

"Alright sweetie, you've got this." Bree clapped her hands together before holding them outwards to Justine. Our daughter looked at her hesitantly, still gripping my arm tightly as she stood on shaky legs. "C'mon, come to Mommy."

"Why do I have to record this?" Noah complained, even as he held the camera so that it was pointed at his little sister.

"It'll be really cool when you're both older." I told him. He frowned.

"How? It's just walking. Almost everyone can walk." He declared. His eyes widened. "If she can't walk, can we get her a wheelchair like Diana's? We can put stickers on it and stuff!"

"I don't think she's going to need a wheelchair, Bug." Bree told him, even as he tried not to laugh. Noah's face fell. "How about we put stickers on your bike later, huh?"

"…Okay." Noah agreed, still sounding disappointed. Meanwhile, Justine was edging farther and farther away from me, though she still gripped my arm.

"C'mon, princess. Just take one step." I encouraged her. Justine made a displeased noise. "Please, Juju?"

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. "I'll get it." Bree sighed, getting up. The moment she did, Justine took a shaky step towards Noah before taking another, hands reaching out for her brother as she moved away from me.

"Bree!" I exclaimed to make sure she was watching. Justine nearly fell, but she managed to reach Noah, her hands curling to grip the seven-year-old's pants.

"Baby!" Bree beamed excitedly. Noah looked down at Justine before grinning at Bree.

"Does this mean she likes me better than you?" He asked, smirking widely.

**2030**

The heavy silence that filled the car lasted exactly six minutes and forty-two seconds.

"Am I in trouble?" Noah mumbled came from the back seat. I glanced at my son through the rear-view mirror before turning my attention back to the road.

"Should you be in trouble?" I questioned.

Noah didn't answer at first. "He deserved it." He grumbled. I sighed.

"What's rule number one, Noah?" I asked. He sighed.

"We don't hit people." He replied. I nodded.

"That's right. We don't hit people, even if we think they deserve it." I said sternly. He sighed.

"I'm sorry." He apologized.

"I think that Ezra might appreciate that apology just a little bit more. You're going to apologize to him tomorrow." It wasn't up for debate. Noah sighed audibly. "Noah?"

"Fine." He agreed. I nodded, turning as the light changed. "I'm sorry you had to come get me."

"I don't mind picking you up, buddy, but I do mind getting calls about you getting into fights." I told him.

"He started it." Noah grumbled. I glanced at him through the mirror.

"He threw the first punch?" I asked, surprised. That wasn't what his teacher had told me.

"No, I did." Noah explained. "But he deserved it."

"Noah, we talked about this." I said.

"I know, and I'll say sorry." He assured me. I nodded before pulling into the parking lot outside of The Liberty Bell. Noah could hang in the office while I worked and I would take him home when the dinner rush was over. "But I don't get why he's allowed to say stuff like that and get away with it."

"I'm sure Ezra's getting talked to by his mom right now. He's not my concern." I put the car in park and turned around to face him. "We have to be better than the bullies, okay, bud? Don't give him the satisfaction of making you mad."

"Alright…" Noah sighed. I looked at him.

"What did he say, anyway?" It wasn't like Noah to get into fights, even with kids like Ezra Johnson, who he'd been fighting with since kindergarten. Noah looked down, not wanting to answer. "Noah."

"He said Mom was a freak." He mumbled. He looked up and must have seen the surprise on my face, because he continued in a very quick and upset voice. 'Steve, Magnus, Keith, and I were playing bionic heroes on the monkey bars and Ezra started making fun of us and said that Mom and Uncle Adam and Uncle Chase and Uncle Leo were all freaks of nature and stuff."

"So you hit him." I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Yeah…how long am I in trouble for?" He asked, eyes wide. I sighed.

"No video games for the week." As much as I wanted to be on his side now, I still had to give him some sort of punishment. Noah pouted, upset, but I added, "You can still go to Keith's birthday party on Friday."

"Really?" He grinned. I nodded.

"I don't want to hear about anymore fights, understood?" I said sternly. Noah's face went somber and he nodded.

"No more fights. I promise." He said with as much sincerity and seriousness that a ten-year-old could master. I smirked a little.

"Alright. Have you had lunch yet?" I questioned. He shook his head. "Let's see if I can't whip us something up in the kitchen, huh?"

**2036**

"Okay, not what do you do?" I questioned, watching Noah from the passenger side of the car. Noah smirked and put the car in drive.

"Please, Dad, don't patronize me. If you're going to ask me obvious questions like that, at least wait until I have to do something tricky, like parallel park."

"Really?" I hummed, amused. I glanced in the backseat, where Justine was sitting with her legs crossed, a magazine in her lap. "Justine, would you like to tell your brother what he forgot?"

"Seatbelt." Justine sang, not looking up as she flipped the page. Noah groaned as he put the car in park again and grabbed his seatbelt.

"Why is she here?" He complained as he buckled himself in.

"Added motivation not to make a mistake?" I suggested. Noah gave me an annoyed look. "Your Mom wants us to take her to the mall. She needs new shoes."

"Don't you have a million pairs?" Noah questioned, looking at her over his shoulder.

"Well, I need a million and one." She replied. She smirked a little and looked up. "And they're for school."

"Fine, but no backseat driving." He grumbled, turning back to the front of the car. He quickly checked the mirrors then put the car into drive and carefully left our driveway. We drove for a couple of minutes before he grinned. "See? This is easy."

"That's what your aunt said when I first taught her how to drive." I replied, amused.

"Aunt Calla's a good driver." I could hear Justine frowning from the back.

"Well, missions do tend to make you good at things like that. But the first time I took her out, CeeCee hit a stop sign." I replied. Justine laughed from the backseat.

"She does know you're supposed to stop before you hit them, right?" Noah chuckled, coming to a careful stop. I had to admit, he did seem to be a natural at this.

"Turn left at the light, alright? And yeah, I don't know how she managed it." I admitted.

"You know..." Noah said slowly as he approached the stop light. He came to a stop at the red and waited patiently for the light to change. "I wouldn't even need to learn to drive if I had super speed."

"Not this again." Justine groaned audibly, the ten-year-old letting her head rest against the back of her seat.

"Noah," I said sternly. We'd had this conversation before, plenty of times, and my and Bree's decision had never changed. Why he kept insisting on bringing it up was beyond me.

"Just saying." He grumbled, turning down the road. He glanced at me. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Besides, you don't need super speed. You're weirdly good at this." Something occurred to me then. Noah was too good at this. He was in the right spot in the road, he wasn't going too fast (like most young drivers) or even too slow. He was turning at the right times and following all the rules to a T while still looking extremely comfortable behind the wheel. "Okay, who took you driving while you were visiting your grandparents."

"No one took me driving." "It was Aunt Naomi." He and his sister responded at the same time. Noah scowled at her through the rear-view window.

"Seriously, Naomi?" I muttered. Justine laughed a little.

"Oh yeah?" Noah challenged. He pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park. "Get out, Juju. You're walking."

"Dad!" Justine protested. I shook my head, having to admit I was a little amused.


	33. Bree Davenport

**2008**

"We're going to get in trouble." Chase said, sounding annoyed.

"Not if you keep your mouth shut." I told him sternly. This was why I didn't bring Adam - he would just get us caught. But Mr. Davenport wasn't home during the day, he never was, so how were we supposed to get in trouble?

The elevator dinged as it opened, revealing a large room. It was really bright as opposed to the lab - it had white walls, but the floors were both orange and white, giving it a bit of color to go with the nice looking furniture. "Cool!" I ran straight to the large window at the far end, looking outside excitedly. It wasn't like I'd never been outside before (Mr. Davenport took us outside on training missions at least once a month), but it was so pretty from up here. "Look, Chase! You can see the whole world from up here!"

"No you can't!" My little brother called over his shoulder at me as he examined the TV remote.

"Yes I can!" I snapped. Maybe it wasn't the whole world, but it was pretty close. At the very least, you could see the whole city from up here. We must be pretty high up for all those other houses to look so tiny.

"Hey, Bree!" Chase called, heading towards the hallway. "Let's explore."

"Race you!" I called, speeding past him towards another room. We weren't going to have much time, so I wanted to see as much of the house as we could.

Chase and I explored for what seemed like hours. Mr. Davenport had a weird bedroom - instead of a capsule, he had a large mattress with lots of pillows - but it had a TV in it, which seemed cool. Actually, it was unfair. He had a nicer bathroom too (though it smelt like guy, so it still wasn't much better than the one I shared with Adam and Chase), and a games room, though it didn't look like it got used that much. Chase and I played in there a while, where I schooled him in air hockey, and he won a couple of times at darts (I totally let him win).

"What are you doing up here?" I started at the sudden shout, dropping the dart I'd been holding. I stared at Mr. Davenport as it hit the ground, clattering loudly in the sudden silence.

"Um..." I trailed off, not sure what to say.

"It was Bree's idea!" Chase said suddenly. I looked at him, betrayed, while he just shrugged. "It was."

"Downstairs, both of you. Now." He ordered, gesturing at the hall. I sighed and trudged out of the room, following Chase back to the lab. Adam was still watching TV down there when we got down there. "You can't just go upstairs whenever you like."

"Why not?" I whined.

"Someone could see you!" He snapped.

"So?" It didn't seem like such a bad thing to me. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What will happen if someone sees us?" Chase asked quietly, frowning.

"Bad things, okay? Bad, adult things." Mr. Davenport told us. I glared at him.

"It's not fair!" I protested, storming off into the bathroom. It was the only privacy I could get around here, and I really didn't want to see him. Chase and I were having fun, and we weren't doing anything bad, so I didn't see why we got in trouble.

I didn't come out for a few hours, aside from the five minutes I stepped out so Adam, still very confused as to why everyone was yelling, could use the toilet. When I did come out for good, Mr. Davenport didn't say anything about the fight, so I thought it was over.

The next day he installed a security system to watch over us. And judging by the way he talked about it (he even gave it a name - Eddy), it sounded like we were going to be stuck with the babysitter for a while.

**2013**

Normally, I tried to stay out of Chase and Adam's fights. They almost always ended in the same way - Mr. Davenport having to break it up before Adam accidentally did some real harm to Chase. It was just easier to let him handle it than try to get involved. But when Adam punched a massive, fist-sized dent in the doors to the lab, I thought maybe I should at least go see what they were fighting about.

I made my way over to them, reaching them just as Adam lifted my younger brother off his feet by the front of his shirt.

"I don't have it!" Chase was arguing, kicking his feet in a vain effort to try and touch the ground.

"Oh, hey!" I said cheerfully, looking at them. Adam gasped, dropping Chase and pointing at me.

"You took my IPod!" He accused. I glanced at the device in my hands, realizing that this was what they were fighting over, then gave him a look.

"Taylor Swift mega-mix, really?" I questioned. I wasn't about to deny that I took the IPod, but mine was dead and I'd been hoping he would have better music on his than Chase did.

"I find her soothing." Adam explained, reaching for it. I smirked a little and turned around to walk away. To my annoyance, he stopped me by sending a blast of heat vision over my shoulder.

"Oh, I know you didn't shoot that laser at me." I declared, turning around. Was he trying to mess with my hair?

"Oh, sorry. It was a terrible mistake. Just like your face." Adam teased. I glowered at him before lunging at him at super speed. Even though I was smaller than him, and he was stronger, the speed helped me push him backwards into the stacks of yellow barrels in the corner. I was about to push him again when I caught sight of another kid - this one smaller and darker-skinned than the rest of us - hiding behind the barrels.

I stepped back, staring at him in utter amazement. How had he even gotten down here without Eddy stopping him? Who was he? Had Mr. Davenport hired him, like he'd hired Calla?

"AHHH!" Adam, Chase, and I all screamed in shock at the kid. He started to scream back, then raced into the main part of the lab.

"C'mon!" Chase instructed, chasing after the kid. Adam and I followed him, utterly confused.

The kid was hiding partially behind a counter when we got in there, looking utterly terrified of us. So, clearly not one of Mr. Davenport's employees - Calla may not have known about us before coming down here, but Mr. Davenport had been careful to choose someone who would be excited by our bionics, not frightened by them. If that was the case, who was this kid?

**2013**

"What is she doing?" I looked up to see Jaden, Calla's older brother, staring at the field in confusion. Following his gaze, I saw Calla standing in front of Chase, or rather Spike, arguing with him.

"Keeping him focused?" I suggested. I knew that she was trying to keep him pissed off at the footballers - the longer Spike wanted to kill them, the greater our chances were that we might win the game, and she'd been worried that he would cool down too much over break. Of course, I couldn't explain all that to the older boy, so I simply shrugged as if I didn't know. "Water?" I offered him a bottle, hoping to change the topic.

"Thanks. So is he usually like this, or is he just trying to impress my sister or something?" Jaden questioned. I shrugged.

"Why would he be trying to impress her?" I asked. Jaden chuckled. "What?"

"Nothing. Calla just usually doesn't hang around that kind of guy, so I figured she must have a thing for him."

"I don't think so. And no, he's not usually like this. I think he's just having a bad week or something." Hopefully, I thought to myself. Dealing with Spike for a couple of days was one thing, but if he was going to be around for the entire school year, it might come back to bite us all in the butts. "Wait, you think Calla's got a thing for him?"

"I mean, he's not really her type, but then again, neither was Caleb, so it's a little hard to tell..." Jaden paused, then glanced at me. "You know, I just realized: I don't even know your name."

"Oh, it's Bree Davenport." I replied, offering him my hand. He shook it, a little amused.

"As in Davenport Industries?" He asked. I nodded, and a look of realization came over him. "Ah, got it. That's why you guys are so close already - your dad is Calla's boss. You guys meet at some company retreat or something?"

"Something like that, yeah." I agreed lightly. I didn't like lying, but it was a necessity, and he was practically feeding me a back story. I'd have to mention to Calla and the others later what I'd told Jaden.

"Play restarts in ten!" Principal Perry shouted, walking across the field. Jaden chugged most of the water in one go, while I just kicked my helmet under the bleacher. Jaden watched with an amused look.

"I think you're going to need that." He told me.

"Oh, I'd definitely need it if I were going out there. Sp-Chase might not be playing nice, but you guys aren't either." I announced, hands on my hips. "I'm going to avoid becoming a casualty by cheerleading for the rest of the night."

"That is probably the smartest decision any of us have made all night." Jaden admitted, pulling his own helmet on. "Wish me luck in surviving your brother!"

I laughed a little, watching. "Dude!" Leo called to me as he headed back onto the field. "Whose side are you on?"

"Ours!" I shouted back, swiftly walking over to our side of the field to begin my cheer routine.

**2013**

"So, pumpkin guts were everywhere, the neighbours ferret was sleeping in our kitchen sink, and for the life of me, I could not remember what the security code for the house was." Rebeccka said, causing Kaitlin, Jessica, and I to laugh even harder.

"And that's when my mom showed up, thinking that someone broke into their house, only to find Rebeccka and I standing in the middle of that mess, still soaking wet." Calla added, doing a little better than us at keeping her laughter suppressed. "And we've been friends ever since."

"That is the best story of anyone becoming friends ever." I declared, still laughing. Rebeccka and Calla shared grins. "Oh my God, you two are insane."

"She's insane. I just get dragged along for the ride." Calla pointed out. Rebeccka gave her a look.

"I'm insane?" She repeated. "Have you forgotten about the Yahtzee incident?"

"What Yahtzee incident?" I asked, confused.

"We don't talk about the Yahtzee incident." Calla said shortly, giving Rebeccka a silencing look.

"Oh, we should play a board game." Kaitlin suggested.

"Not Yahtzee." Calla said quickly.

"Not Yahtzee." I promised. I looked at the rest of my friends. "There are games in the hall we can choose from."

"I don't really care what we play." Kaitlin shrugged. Jessica smiled at me.

"I'll help you pick." She offered, pushing the pillow off her lap and getting up. I led her into the hall where Mr. Davenport kept a vast array of board games in a closet. "Dang, you weren't kidding. What, do you spend all your time in the house playing games?"

"We're not really outdoors people." I replied, shrugging. Jessica grinned and bent down to look at the games on the bottom. "So, what's the Yahtzee incident?"

"I have no idea." The blonde laughed, skimming through the board games. "Rebeccka knows because she and Calla were really close at the time, and she likes to tease her about it, but Kaitlin and I are just as much in the dark as you are. What about Mouse Trap?"

"That gets boring. Scrabble?" I suggested. Without Chase playing, I might have a chance at winning.

"No way. Calla always uses these really long words that no one is entirely sure are real, Becky always wins by making really tiny words like 'an' and 'it', and Kait will rage quit halfway through." Rebeccka told me. I smirked - that sounded a bit like playing with my brothers. "Let's find something else."

"Hey," I mentioned, glancing. "Thanks for not leaving after the whole 'haunted house' thing. I know you guys could have bailed when Stephanie did."

"Steph's a flake; you're more fun to hang out with than her." Jessica told me, giving me a smile. "As for the haunted house...well, so long as you don't expect me to get any actual sleep here, we can pretend it didn't happen. God knows we've ignored a lot of the weird stuff that's happened with Rebeccka."

"Wait...there's weirder than the ferret story?" I asked, staring at her. Her eyes widened and she nodded.

"Remind me to tell you about the thing with the corn dog later, alright?" She mentioned, stopping and pulling out a box. "What's Quelf?"

I grinned, remembering how crazy things got the last time we played it. "The perfect game for this group." I replied. Jessica grinned at me.

"Oh yeah?" She beamed and stood up. "We picked one!" She announced, leading me back into the living room.

**2016**

Chase was still in the mentor's quarters when I got upstairs, thankfully not having left to sleep in Calla's room yet. He'd been doing that for a few months now, sneaking into her room to sleep with her rather than in his own capsule, though by now the two of them had stopped bothering to hide that fact from us.

"Hey, Chase?" I called, stopping him before he could leave. He paused at the door, frowning at me.

"What's wrong?" He asked, concerned.

"I um...I'm sorry." I apologized. He sighed, and I bit my lip. I'd already apologized today, to everyone, but I felt that I should at least apologize a second time to him, after everything Giselle put him through.

"Bree-" He started, but I shook my head, not wanting to hear him tell me that it was okay when it wasn't.

"Let me finish." I told him. He went quiet, allowing me to say what I needed to say. "I am so sorry for everything. None of this would have happened if I'd just given those documents to Troy."

It had been such a dumb thing to do. I couldn't even give him a real explanation for why I did it - sure, Troy was good looking, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little attracted to him, but I was with Jaden and happily so. Maybe it as because I thought we were becoming friends, but after Marcus and Sebastian, I should have known better.

"Everyone makes mistakes." Chase told me gently.

"Still, I screwed up and you nearly died because of it." I had no idea how I was going to sleep tonight, with the image of Chase's body on that table still stuck in my head. "I can't believe I trusted him because he was cute, and kind, and ripped."

Chase chuckled a little at that. "Yeah, well now he's mangled, melted, and dead." He reminded me. I gave him a look - how could he find all of this funny? "Bree, you more than made up for it today. And you had no way to know that he was an android."

"I guess." I mumbled. I'd have to get Douglas to give me a crash course on telling the difference between them though. Troy wasn't the first android to trick us, and somehow, I didn't think he would be the last.

"No one here blames you." Chase added, giving me a look.

 _"Funny how it's Chase paying for that mistake and not her."_  Calla's words echoed in my ears. She hadn't said a word to me since we got back to the Academy, though she'd admittedly been too preoccupied with Chase to focus on anyone else. "Did someone blame you?" Chase questioned when I only mumbled a response. I shook my head, but he didn't buy it. "Bree, who blamed you?"

"It doesn't matter. Everything turned out alright." I insisted. Chase gave me a look, still waiting. "She was upset, Chase."

"Calla." He licked his lips, nodding to himself as if he'd already suspected that answer.

"Don't be mad at her. She was scared, and she wasn't entirely wrong."

"Yes, she was." Chase insisted. He shook his head. "I'm going to go talk to her."

"No, don't. Chase, don't." I gave him a look. He sighed.

"Fine. But it wasn't your fault, Bree." He insisted. I nodded a little and he started to leave but paused in the doorway. "Thanks for saving my ass back there."

"Thanks for not dying." I replied. He chuckled. "Night, love you."

"Love you too." He replied, still chuckling as he headed for Calla's room. I nodded to myself, glad that things were alright between the two of us. Now I just had to talk to Calla, and things might go back to normal. Or whatever counted as normal around here.

**2017**

I gave up on sleep after about thirty minutes of trying to get comfortable in my capsule. Maybe it was the new capsule, or the new room, or even the two new roommates I had sleeping in beds on either side of my capsule, but for the life of me, I just couldn't sleep.

I stepped out of my capsule, careful not to wake anyone. Dani didn't really look like she was sleeping well either, to be fair - she was lying with her back to me, a pillow clutched over her head in a vain attempt to block out the sound of Skylar's snores. The alien was completely out of it, snoring loudly as she drifted into dreamland.

I shook my head to myself and headed downstairs. I went straight to the kitchen and made myself a cup of hot cocoa before starting on a second one - I wouldn't be surprised if Dani came down in a bit, what with how Skylar's snoring was obviously keeping her up. I'd barely finished the second cup when it suddenly occurred to me that the lamp in the living room had been on when I came down here. Looking over my shoulder, I realized I wasn't the only one up.

"I thought you and Chase would be enjoying your new room." I commented, carrying one of the mugs over to Calla. There was no guarantee that Dani would come down, so I might as well give the mug to someone who was already down here.

"Nah, he has to sleep in the capsule every two or three nights, remember?" Calla replied, closing her book and accepting the second mug. "Besides, I couldn't really sleep."

Guess insomnia was contagious. "The room not up to your standards?" I teased, sitting down on a grey stool next to her.

"It's perfect, actually." Calla laughed gently. "And yours? What's it like, sharing with Dani and the alien girl?"

"Surprisingly normal. Two beds, a capsule, and a TV. The couch in there is pretty comfy too." I replied. "And Mr. Davenport put curtains on my capsule for extra privacy."

"Nice." Calla grinned at me. I'd been begging for curtains on my capsule for ages. It wasn't like it was a necessity - the capsules did darken whenever we changed in them, so it wasn't like any one would see anything we didn't want them to - but I'd always wondered what it would be like to wake up and not have one of my brother's faces be the first thing I see in the morning. "Want to join us?"

I looked over my shoulder to see Dani coming down the stairs. She looked utterly exhausted, but at the same time, too alert to go back to bed.

"Uh, sure." Dani walked over to us and dropped onto the couch across from where Calla and I were sitting. "So, Skylar's snoring woke you too?"

"Yep." I agreed. Calla gave me a look.

"Your capsule is soundproof." She told me. I nodded.

"I know." I agreed. I didn't know how Skylar's snores managed to breach a level of sound protection that even Adam and Chase had never been able to get through, but they had.

"Damn." Calla whistled, shaking her head. "As for me, I've just...been thinking. Honestly," she looked at me, "I'm terrified that Adam's already gone and destroyed the entire Academy."

"Nah, I just talked to Jaden." I'd called him just before bed, wanting to check in. "They're still standing. He says 'hey' by the way."

"Jaden? That's your boyfriend, right?" Dani asked, curious. I nodded.

"Yeah. Mr. Davenport needed him to stay back in California while we came here to deal with what happened to Mighty Med." I wish he had come with us, but I saw the logic in keeping half of us back. Jaden and I had done the long distance thing before, and it was hard, but we could do it again, and hopefully, we could deal with whoever killed Dani's friends quickly. "By the way, whose idea was it to call him for help? I'm just curious."

"Skylar. She thought, since the guys saved Chase's life, that he might lend us some tech. We didn't expect him to make a team out of it. Thanks, by the way, for coming."

"We're all in this together now." Calla promised her. I gave Dani a reassuring smile. I couldn't imagine how they all must feel - alone, hurt, and terrified if Kaz's earlier outburst was anything to go by. That alone made my and Jaden's separation worth it - if we could help them, I wanted to. This team would be good for all of us, and hopefully, even after we stop the monster who destroyed Mighty Med, Mr. Davenport would invite them to come back to the Academy with us, or wherever he was sending us next.

**2020**

"Doesn't Mommy look awesome, Noah?" Calla cooed, holding my son in her arms. I smiled down at him as he giggled, looking absolutely adorable in the tuxedo onesie Rio had insisted I buy for the occasion.

"You think so?" I asked. Calla gave me a look, one I should have expected to get after asking that for what must have been the millionth time.

"You look amazing, Bree!" Skylar sounded just as annoyed as Calla looked, the Calderan barely glancing at my reflection in the mirror she was standing in front before clipping in her earrings.

"She's right." Rio added, smoothing out her pale blue bridesmaid dress. Calla's phone suddenly buzzed on the counter. She glanced at it, then gently placed Noah on his blanket before clapping her hands together.

"Alright. We start in two minutes, ladies!" She announced. I cracked a smile at her tone. Calla had put herself in charge of planning the wedding since the wedding, and I wasn't all that surprised that she was taking charge right now. "Okay, Skylar, please go make sure the guys are ready. Rio, I need Davenport's butt outside that door when Bree and I come out in two minutes. Go!"

Neither girl argued with her, instead exchanging laughing smiles before heading for the door. In the meantime, Calla turned to me. "Nerves?"

"They feel like they're on fire. I feel pukey." I admitted. Calla smirked.

"I know the feeling. You're going to be fine." Her tone went gentle. "Are you happy? This is what you want?"

"Absolutely." I murmured, confused where she was going with this. She nodded, smiling.

"Good. That's all you need to focus on - that you're marrying the man you love. Don't think about anything else, and you'll feel fine." She promised. I nodded. "And besides, if you can handle being a Mom, AND being a bionic hero, I'm pretty sure you can handle walking down an aisle."

"You're getting really good with those pep talks, you know." I mentioned, and we both laughed.

"You ready?" She asked me. I nodded.

"Let's do this." I told her. She grinned and bent down, gently lifting Noah into her arms again. "Wait," I told her. She paused and I bent down to kiss my son on the top of his head. "For luck."

"C'mon." She told me, smiling as she led us towards the door. Mr. Davenport was waiting for us outside. "You guys have one minute." Calla called over her shoulder, not stopping as she headed for Rio and Skylar.

"She really likes to be in charge, doesn't she?" He commented, watching her go.

"I think the power went to her head a little when you made her CEO." I teased. He chuckled and turned to me, looking me over with a soft smile on his face.

"You look beautiful." He told me. I smiled, noting the wetness of his eyes.

"Thank you." I told him. I heard Calla clear her throat ahead of us, letting us know that she and the others were going to start walking soon. "Showtime." I murmured. Mr. Davenport smiled and offered me his arm, and I felt the butterflies in my stomach increase. But they weren't going to stop me from walking down that aisle and marrying the man I loved.

**2021**

"So, what's up?" Chase questioned, glancing at me for a second before turning his attention back to the spaghetti he was making. I shrugged, kicking my legs from where I was perched on top of the kitchen island.

"What makes you think something's up?" I asked innocently. Chase turned and gave me a look.

"This penthouse is almost never empty, yet you managed to show up 'out of the blue' at the one time where no one is here." He pointed out. I averted my gaze and he chuckled. "Don't pretend it's a coincidence that AJ went to the library at the same time that Oliver took Skylar out to see a movie I know she had no interest in, and that Jaden just happened to show up half an hour ago to convince Emily to take the kids to the park."

"What are you saying? That I bribed every to get you alone so we could talk?" I questioned. Chase raised an eyebrow.

"I just figured you asked them to scram. I didn't assume that you paid them…until now." He commented. I chuckled. "Okay, seriously, what's up?"

I sighed. "So, Jay and I have been talking…about Centium City and how much danger it's been in for the last few years."

"Which is why SHIRT is giving the CCPD training to handle specific types of criminals, like Argento and Roddiseus." Chase added. He grabbed a thick cloth, wrapped it around the handle of the pot and carried it over to the sink to dump its contents in the waiting strainer.

"Yeah, no. I know. It's just…it's safest place to raise a kid, is it?" I blurted out. Chase paused, then looked at me.

"You guys are leaving." It wasn't a question. I nodded slowly. He bit the inside of his cheek, then nodded. "Makes sense."

"Are you upset?" I asked. He gave me a look before transferring the pasta back into the pot.

"Of course not. You have to do what's best for Noah." He assured me. I nodded, smiling. "And besides, I think we all got the sense that the team was breaking up. I heard Skylar and Oliver talking about some promotion at work."

"You think they're leaving too?" I asked. He nodded.

"That's Calla's theory." He replied. I nodded. "Where are you guys headed?"

"Los Angelos. Jaden's uncle offered him a job." I replied. Chase nodded, smirking a little.

"LA, huh?" He hummed to himself. "You're going to love it there."

"Yeah." I agreed. I had missed the sun, and the business of California. "You going to be alright without me?"

"I'll be fine. I've got Calla, and AJ and Emily." He shrugged. He looked at me before adding the marinara sauce to the spaghetti. "I'm not saying I want you to go, but I do get it."

"Thanks." I replied. He smirked.

"Hey, you're not leaving tonight, are you?" He asked, half-joking. I shook my head, smiling.

"Not for a few weeks." I assured him. He nodded.

"Good. Text Jaden – you guys can stay for dinner." He offered. I raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, I know Em's still on formula, but do you really want us, or more specifically Noah, over for a spaghetti dinner? Trust me, my son makes Adam look like a neat freak." I told him. He laughed at that.

"I'm willing to risk it." He assured me. I shook my head, smirking as I pulled out my phone to text Jaden.

"Your funeral." I replied cheekily.

**2025**

Noah stared at the T-shirt for a long moment before looking up at Jaden and I. "I don't get it."

"Well, what does it say?" I asked brightly, smiling at him. He reached out for the shirt and Jaden handed it to him. Noah brought it up to his face, frowning as he concentrated on the large white letters.

"World's…Best…Brother." He read slowly, pronouncing the words. He looked up at us. "Still don't get it."

"Well, it means you're the world's best brother." I explained. Noah frowned.

"But I'm not a brother." He said, looking at us as if we should know that.

"You're going to be." Jaden grinned. Noah frowned and cocked his head to the side, confused. "Mommy's pregnant, buddy. She's having another baby."

"But I'm your baby." Noah protested. I chuckled a little and ran my hand through his hair. Man, he needed a haircut.

"I can have two babies, Bug. This one is just a little newer." I explained. Noah frowned.

"Can we return it for a doggy instead? Uncle Adam said you used to have a doggy." He requested.

"No, we uh, we can't return it." Jaden chuckled a bit, glancing at me. "You can't return babies, buddy."

"Oh…can it at least be a boy? I have enough girl cousins." He told us, dead serious. "Emily and Charlotte do weird things to my hair whenever we see them."

"I'll talk to their parents about getting them to stop." I promised him. "But we don't really get to choose what kind of baby we have."

"Oh, okay then." Noah shrugged. He looked at Jaden, then at me. "Can we still get a doggy?"

"Maybe in a few years." I smiled sadly at the memory of Glitch, who we'd lost to cancer when Noah was three. I didn't think Noah remembered my beloved best friend, but maybe it was worth talking about getting him a pet in the future. "We'll talk about it when you're older."

"Okay…on one condition." Noah decided. Jaden and I exchanged amused looks at the idea of our six-year-old trying to negotiate with us over whether or not we could have another child, especially when he or she was already on the way, but we decided to humor him.

"Let's hear it." Jaden replied. Noah made a face.

"Uncle Leo said that diaper-duty is a worse punishment than even timeouts. Promise you won't EVER make me do diaper-duty." He bargained. I laughed a little.

"Alright, deal." I agreed. Noah grinned.

"Okay, cool." He turned the shirt around in his hands. "Can I wear this to school? I want to brag to Ezra."

**2038**

"I can't see him." Jaden muttered, craning his neck to try and catch sight of Noah through the crowd.

"Justine!" I called, noticing as my daughter had stepped even farther away to try and find her brother. "Stay close. I don't want to lose you in this crowd."

"Fine…oh, there's Blake's mom!" Justine exclaimed before darting into the crowd.

"Justine!" Jaden shouted. I sighed and push through after her, keeping my eyes locked on the light blue dress she'd worn to the ceremony. Sure enough, when the crowd parted enough for us all to get through, she was standing next to Jennifer Forbes, who was smiling as her husband, Christopher, got a picture of Noah and their daughter, Blake, together. The two of them were smiling, Noah's arm wrapped tightly around the blonde's waist while one of her hands rested on his chest. "There you guys are."

"Oh, sorry. That's my fault, Jaden." Jennifer gave us both a smile. "I just wanted to get a picture of the two of them before they changed out of their robes."

"That was a good idea." I pulled out my holophone and aimed the camera at the two of them. "Noah, you've got some hair in your face." He obediently pushed it behind his ear. "This is why I keep telling you to cut it."

"Mom." Noah gave me a look and I took the opportunity to take a picture. He winced as it flashed while he wasn't paying attention. "Hey, I wasn't ready!"

"I think that's your own fault, baby." Blake laughed lightly, She ran a hand through his shoulder length brown locks. "She is right though. It is a little long."

"I like it this way." Noah insisted defensively. Christopher chuckled.

"You look like a hippie, kid." He told Noah, smiling good-naturedly. "What kind of law student looks like a hippie?"

"No one is cutting my hair!" Noah cried in exasperation, hands reaching to protect his precious hair. Jaden laughed, patting Noah's shoulder.

"We're messing with you, bud." He promised Noah. He looked between our son and his girlfriend. "So, CCEU. You two excited?"

"Are you kidding?" Blake flashed a brilliant smile. "We're going to kill their law department."

"No, you're going to kill the department." Noah corrected. "I'm going to be too busy looking like a hippie."

Blake laughed at that. "Alright, that's it. Let's get some cake you in, see if that makes you less grumpy." She grabbed his hand. "We'll be right back."

She started to pull him away, but not before glancing at Justine. She looked at my daughter, then at me. "Justine can come with us, if she wants."

"That's fine." I assured them. Justine grinned.

"Cool." She beamed, following Noah and Blake towards the cake that had been made for the graduating students. I still couldn't believe that they'd graduated today – it felt like it was just yesterday that I had to bribe Noah with a basketball to get him to leave the house for his first day of kindergarten.

"So, Chrissie told me that you're sending Justine to a boarding school next year?" Jennifer mentioned, looking at us curiously.

"It's a private boarding school. They offered her an athletic scholarship." I said proudly. Justine had been so excited when she'd found out that she and a few members from her school's swim team had been made the offer. "It's suppose to have one of the best education systems in the country."

"It's incredible. I've done research on the campus – we were thinking of sending Blake there for her junior and senior year. You're lucky she got a full scholarship; it's not a cheap school." Christopher mentioned. I nodded. We probably could have still afforded it, between what Jaden and I both made, but it certainly would have made it a much harder decision to make. As it was, we almost didn't send her – I was already losing one of my kids to school next year, I wasn't keen on losing the other – but it was too great an opportunity to pass up.

I glanced over at the cake table, where Noah, Justine, and Blake were joking around. Justine was wearing Noah's graduation cap on her head, while Blake teased him for getting cake on his robe. It was hard to believe that in a few months time, Jaden and I would have an empty house. That was why I wanted to do something this summer, just the four of us. I knew they'd be back next summer and over the Christmas and Spring breaks, but I wanted to make as much of this summer as we could before they left.


	34. Skylar Storm

**2015**

I kicked the punching bag lazily, unable to summon the energy to really make a mark in it. Usually, I would go all out on these things – there was a reason why the ones in my cave back home were made of indestructible and shock resistant material – but after losing to the Annihilator, I just wasn't feeling it. Maybe I would after I got my powers back. All I had to do was wait until Horace got the test results back before I would know how long it would be before I got my powers back. Hopefully it would only take a few hours, maybe a day. If I had to wait a week before they came back fully, I was going to go stir crazy on this boring planet.

I looked up as Horace walked into the room with three kids following him, awestruck looks on their faces. It looked like he was giving them a tour of some sort, so I hung back, not wanting to interrupt. Maybe he was hiring them? On my planet, it wasn't uncommon for places like this to hire kids my age, maybe it was the same here. I watched them as they talked, curious about them, and only getting involved in the conversation when one of them – a boy with black hair – accidentally threw a bedpan at my feet.

"'Sup girl," he smirked at me, having not noticed me in the room until this moment. I raised an eyebrow at him – I didn't know how things worked here, but at least where I came from, throwing a bedpan wasn't a great first impression – but before I could make a comment, the other boy gasped, blue eyes going wide.

"Wait, you're Skylar Storm." He realized, his voice giving away how awestruck he seemed to be. I smiled a little at that.

"No way!" The only girl in the group gasped before grinning widely at him. "Dude, you were just making out with a cardboard cut-out of her!"

"No I wasn't!" He argued quickly. I didn't bother to acknowledge the comment – I'd learned a long time ago that some fans would take their crushes to creepy levels. So long as he didn't try to make out with the real me, I would just try and ignore the crush. The boy turned to me and, with an apologetic smile, offered me his hand. "Hi, I'm Oliver. I'm a big fan of your work. You have so many amazing powers."

"Had so many amazing powers." I grumbled in annoyance. "Yesterday, I was ambushed by the Annihilator. He neutralized my powers, stole my invisible flying motorcycle, and he even stole my costume! He left me standing there in my underwear."

That had been an awkward bus ride to Mighty Med, that's for sure. Oliver had this far away look in his eyes, and I could easily guess what he was thinking. I snapped my fingers in front of his face, annoyed. He blinked, coming back to himself, before turning to his friends. "I will definitely be buying that comic when it comes out." He told them. I rolled my eyes.

"Anyway, I came here to Mighty Med to get my powers restored…" I trailed off. Maybe they didn't even need to be restored. Maybe they'd come back on their own. Maybe they already had. "Unless…" I looked at the black-haired boy, an idea coming to mind. "Explode!"

I raised my hand, but to my annoyance, nothing happened. "Nothing!" I muttered, ticked off.

"Bummer." The boy said sympathetically, before frowning in confusion. "Wait, if you did have your powers, wouldn't I have just exploded?"

"Into a million pieces." I agreed, smiling at the thought of me being able to do that again. He grinned.

"Awesome!" He exclaimed, high-fiving the others. Horace chuckled, walking over to us.

"I see you've met Skylar." He observed. "Skylar Storm, I'd like you to meet Oliver Short, Kaz Broadman, and Dani Short, my newest hires."

"You work here?" I asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Dani smiled. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." I replied. They were a little odd, especially Oliver with his crush on me, but they seemed like the kind of odd that would make things around here interesting.

**2016**

"Hey! Oliver!" I called, jogging after Oliver. He stopped just under the street light, a little surprised to see me out here so late.

"Hey, Skylar. What are you doing here?" He asked, frowning.

"I wanted to talk to you." I replied. He nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Actually, I just wanted to make sure we were okay."

That confused him even more. "Why wouldn't we be okay?"

"Because of what happened with the Annihilator and stuff..." I replied sheepishly, rubbing my arm. Oliver just looked at me. "Look, I just wanted to make sure you guys weren't mad at me or anything."

"No, of course not." He assured me. I let out a sigh of relief, feeling the tension bleed out of my shoulders. "Skylar, you already apologized. I forgave you."

"Yeah, but just because you say you forgive someone doesn't mean you're not mad at them anymore. Spotlight forgave me, but he was still upset with me." I explained. "Kinda like how Kaz forgave you for stealing his garlic bread last week, but didn't stop being mad about it until you went to the store and bought him some more."

"Hmm." Oliver hummed. I frowned, noticing something was off, but I didn't comment on it. "I'm not mad, Skylar. I promise."

"Okay. Great." I nodded, smiling a little.

"Have the people at Mighty Med been giving you a hard time?" He asked gently. I nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." I assured him. "Some of them may hate me, but ALL of them hate Alan more. And it might take me some time to get their trust back, but I can work on that. I just wanted to make sure all of us were good."

"All of us." He repeated. I nodded, frowning at his tone.

"Yeah. You, me, Kaz, Alivia, and Dani." I replied. He nodded, biting his lip. "Are they mad at me? Liv and I are okay, and I thought I was good with Kaz and Dani..."

"They're not mad at you at all." He was quick to promise me. "And trust me, even if they had been holding grudges, which they weren't, they've been a little too busy secretly dating to be mad at anyone."

"They're dating?" I looked at him, surprised. Well, no, not surprised. Even when I was evil, I'd noticed something as going on between the two of them. Mischievous glances at each other when they thought no one was looking, sneaking off together without much of an explanation as to why, the homework they were claiming to work on together...though if that last part was true, then them being together might be good for Kaz's grades. So, maybe I wasn't totally surprised by the fact that they had been seeing each other behind everyone's backs. Maybe I was more surprised by the fact that they'd told people.

"Yeah. Future Kaz busted them today, but apparently, it's been going on for weeks." He replied. I nodded thoughtfully and he frowned. "You don't look that surprised. Did they...were you helping them keep it a secret?"

"No. No, I didn't know." I replied quickly. Oliver wasn't a big fan of secrets, and I could tell that he wasn't very happy with this. "But I mean, is it really that much of a surprise? They've always had something between them, right?"

"I...I don't know. How did I not see it coming?" He questioned. I shrugged.

"Maybe you're too close to it to really see it for what it is?" I suggested. "Kaz is your best friend, and Dani's your sister. It doesn't surprise me that your mind didn't automatically go there."

"I guess." He shrugged.

"So, you're mad at them?" I guessed. He sighed.

"Am I that obvious?" He asked. I shrugged.

"Well, you're standing outside your house in the cold, presumably to get some space from your sister?" I suggested. He chuckled at having been caught. "Also, Dani's kinda watching us from her bedroom window, and she's got this kicked puppy look on her face."

"What?" Oliver turned around and Dani's face disappeared from the bedroom window. "That's my room - her's is in the back." He muttered, annoyed.

"You know they weren't trying to hurt you, right?" I asked. I didn't have any details, though I would certainly be texting Alivia after this to see what she knew, but I knew that hurting Oliver would be the last thing either of them wanted.

"I'm just sick of the secrets, Skylar." Oliver admitted. I nodded in understanding.

"You going to be okay?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah, I'm just going to go for a walk to clear my head." He replied. He glanced at me and smiled. "Do you want to come? There's an ice cream parlor a couple of blocks away that I think is still open."

I smiled back. "Sure, I'd love to." I agreed.

**2016**

"Hey, Skylar!" Bree called, catching up to me as I headed for the rec room. I paused at the counters in the ER, and she gave me an apologetic smile. "Listen, I am really sorry for underestimating you. Superheroes are pretty great, with or without powers."

"I'm sorry too. I guess it's not important if you're bionic, or have super powers, or are completely un-special like Kaz. Anyone can be a hero." I looked over my shoulder at said doctor, watching as he played with a glove like it was a toy. "I really don't get what Dani sees in him."

"Dani? Is that his girlfriend?" Bree inquired curiously. I nodded.

"And Oliver's sister. She works here too, but she's away for a soccer tournament." I explained. "It's a shame – she'll be really disappointed that she missed you guys."

"Well, maybe we can meet her sometime. We should all stay in touch." Bree suggested. She hesitated. "By the way, speaking of dating and stuff, I'm sorry I hit on your boyfriend. I was just trying to make Jaden jealous because he was flirting with this girl earlier…"

"Wait, hold on. Boyfriend?" I repeated. She frowned.

"Oliver?" She said, confused. I stared at her. "I'm sorry, I thought you were together. You guys have chemistry."

"Really? Us?" I asked, looking over at him. He was speaking with Leo, chuckling at Kaz's antics.

"Do you like him?" Bree asked, looking at me expectantly. I sighed.

"Maybe a little more than I'd thought I did." I admitted, just as Jaden started to walk over.

"Good luck." Bree whispered conspiratorially before grabbing her boyfriend's hand and letting him pull her towards a broom closet at the end of the hall, a mischievous grin on his face.

I sighed and turned back to look at Oliver, knowing now wasn't really the time to ask him out, what with supervillains hunting Quimby Fletcher.

**2016**

I stepped carefully around the stair railing, frowning at the faint light coming from the downstairs living room. It was probably Dani, getting a midnight snack or something - none of us had eaten dinner tonight, and she wasn't in her room when I woke up - but I couldn't help but be on edge. It could be whoever destroyed Mighty Med, tracking down the last of the survivors before they could recover from the devastating attack. It could be Bridget Short, coming back to her home in the wake of the destruction (no one had seen her since she'd bailed, but this was the first time that Oliver or Dani had been back to their house since the wedding). I knew that it was unlikely to be a threat, but I just couldn't relax...not after today.

Instead of calling out - if it were an intruder, I didn't want to alert them to my presence - I slowly and quietly made my way down the stairs, being sure to avoid making as much noise as possible. The light was coming from the TV, which was quietly playing sitcom reruns. "Kaz?" I asked, a little surprised to find him down there.

"Skylar." He sat up, quickly running a hand over his eyes. "Um, what are you doing up?"

I didn't comment on the fact that I could still see the redness in his eyes, despite the faint light, or on the fact that his voice was no more than a croak.

"It's too quiet." I said simply. After months of staying at Mighty Med, with its constant noises at all hours of the night, the silence of the suburbs just felt too wrong for me to go back to sleep after I'd awoken. "Dani wasn't in her room..."

"She curled up in the chair in Oliver's room." He reassured me quickly. He shrugged. "They used to sneak into each other's rooms when they had nightmares, back when they were little."

"What are you doing up?" I asked, moving to sit on the couch next to him. He shrugged.

"Can't sleep." He muttered. I smiled thinly, glancing at the TV.

"I don't think watching 'That '70s Show' is going to help with that." I tried a joke. He nodded, not really paying attention. "Are you okay?"

"Alivia's dead." He said, his voice cracking. I flinched at those words. Some part of me was still trying to deny it, trying to pretend that there was a hope in hell that the Irish sidekick had made it out of the hospital alive. I'd wanted to believe so hard in one of the ridiculous, implausible survival theories that Dani had come up with before crying herself to sleep. But deep down I knew the truth, and Kaz saying those words out loud just cemented it. "Jaime, Spotlight, Alan, Clone Master, Tecton, Captain Atomic, Philip, Benny...Horace. They're gone."

"We don't...they might not be." I said lightly. He looked at me with tired, heartbroken eyes. "We're still here."

"For how long? Until whoever..." He stopped himself, taking a steadying breath. "Until they come for us next? Don't tell me you really think that this was just a single attack."

"No, I don't think that." I murmured. Kaz was right - this had been a targeted attack against the superhero world. And whoever had done it, they wouldn't just stop at Mighty Med. They would go after the rest of the superhero world, and then accomplish whatever their real goal was.

"What are we going to do, Skylar?" Kaz asked, his voice heavy. I sighed, not having an answer for him. The truth was, I didn't know. For the first time since I'd lost my powers, I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next. And it terrified me more than I'd like to admit.

"We're still here." I repeated what I'd said earlier, latching onto that one piece of hope. Oliver, Dani, Kaz, and I were still here, still together. And for now, that would have to be enough.

**2017**

Everything hurt. It felt like my body was on fire, the strange black vapor the surrounded my feeling like acid on my skin. Something was wrong, very wrong, and judging by the force field Chase had surrounded me in to keep the vapor in, the boys knew it too.

I couldn't hear them exactly – the vapor and the force field, combined with the pain, kinda blocked out most of the noise, but I could see Oliver and Chare arguing, fighting over some sort of thin, metal device in their hands.

It was only when a piece of the forcefield cracked did they finally look over at me. I coughed harshly as I tried to decipher the looks in their eyes. Oliver looked scared and desperate, but Chase…there was something about the regret and guilt in his eyes that really got to me. I looked at the device in Oliver's hands, and everything suddenly became agonizingly clear.

The vapor was dangerous, potentially lethal, and we were standing in a building home to nearly a thousand people. If the vapor escaped Mission Command, it would kill them all. The only way to destroy the vapor would be to destroy the source…which was me.

Chase looked away quickly and reached for the device, and I reacted instinctively. I raised my hands, a blast of energy bursting out of them to protect myself. The blast his Oliver in the chest, knocking him down.

I dropped to the ground, the adrenaline leaving my body as the vapor disappeared. "Skylar?" Chase was suddenly beside me, helping me to my feet. He stared at me for a moment, stunned, then smiled. "You're okay."

"I'm not, but that's cool. Focus on her." Oliver called from behind him.

"And you just used one of your super powers." Chase added. I stared at him for a moment before looking down at my hands. I hadn't even realized that that was what I'd done – it had all just been pure instinct for me.

"I did? I did!" I jumped up in excitement, beaming.

"I guess all that vapor was just part of the healing process." Chase realized. Oliver smiled, limping over to us.

"So, then the serum worked." He grinned. I smiled, feeling my heart going a million miles an hour. I'd been waiting, praying for this day for nearly two and a half years now. Until today, I'd given up all hope of ever getting to use my powers again, and now…now this barely felt real.

"It totally did. And it's because of Chase." I hugged my teammate quickly, grateful for everything he did to get my powers back. Then, I recalled something I'd heard him say before. I pulled away quickly and looked at him. "Wait a second, space witch?"

His smile immediately fell. "Skylar, I'm sorry." He apologized quickly, regret for his actions written all over his face. "But I thought everyone was going to die-"

"So you were going to sacrifice me to save everyone else." I interrupted him. I gave him a gentle, reassuring smile. "I get it. Saving people sometimes means sacrifices. Every hero knows that." He nodded, glad that I wasn't mad at him about that. "But space witch?"

"I should go." He realized, backing away when he realized I'd been more offended at the nickname than the attempt on my life. I nodded, agreeing with his decision to leave.

"Hey, I helped too." Oliver piped up, smiling. I gave him a look.

"No, you tried to take credit for his work." I wasn't stupid enough to think that this had been Oliver – he was a bright guy, but this was science and chemistry beyond his capabilities. He sighed, realizing he'd been caught. I put my hand on his shoulder, softening my gaze. "But you did try to stop him from destroying me, so thank you, Oliver."

I gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek before stepping back. "You coming?" I asked – I wanted to show Dani and Kaz my powers, just so I could see the shocked looks on their faces. He raced to follow me, a grin on his face.

**2017**

"Alright, what about this?" Dani suggested, pulling a short, red dress with straps out of the closet. She held it up, then immediately scowled. "No, too bleh."

She tossed the outfit onto the bed before continuing to look through the closet. "You know, I am capable of preparing for a date on my own."

"Yes, but you're going on a date with Ollie, and no one knows him better than I do...well, except Kaz, but he's too busy preparing his next prank, and really, he knows nothing about women's clothes. Look," she turned to me, "let me help, okay? I want to make sure tonight goes well."

"For me or for him?" I asked. She didn't answer verbally, instead giving me a one shoulder shrug before turning back to the closet. I smiled a little, admittedly amused by this situation - Dani had never been the most style-conscious person, and her and Kaz's idea of dressing up for a date was bringing jackets with them in case it got cold, but she was stubbornly determined to make sure that my date with Oliver was a success. Maybe it was just her trying to be a good friend, or a good sister, or some combination of the two, but it felt weirdly out of character for her.

"So, how'd it go?" I asked, changing topics. She hummed thoughtfully, as she looked through the clothes. "Your thing for Alivia, I mean. What sort of mission was it?"

"Recruitment. It was fine." She said quickly before pulling out a black dress. "Ooh, what do you think of this?"

"It's nice." I didn't comment on her quick change of topic - it was probably just a hard mission that she didn't feel like talking over. If something was wrong, she'd talk to us about it.

"It's beautiful." And it would be absolutely perfect for tonight.

"I think we have a winner." Dani laughed lightly, handing it to me. I glanced at it, then at the closet.

"Are you sure Bree won't be mad at us for borrowing this?" I asked. Dani chuckled.

"Nah, she's too busy trying to protect Perry from her inevitable death." She replied. I stared at her, and she smirked. "It's a long story involving a curse that may or may not be real, and a sitcom called 'The Little Squirts'. If she doesn't die, we'll all laugh about it tomorrow."

"I'll take your word for it." I replied. She smiled.

"Good. Now, let's see if Bree's got any shoes to go with this." She decided. I shook my head at her slightly unusual behavior, deciding to attribute it to her being tired for whatever favor she had done for Alivia, and followed her to the dresser.

**2021**

"Hey," I leaned on the back of the couch for a second, looking at Dani. "Can I talk to you?"

"Uh, sure." Dani pushed off the couch and followed me out onto the veranda. As soon as the door was closed behind me, I turned to face her, suddenly feeling ticked off at my former teammate.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. She stared at me, seeming confused as to what I was talking about.

"If this is about the early morning wake-up intrusion, I already apologized..." She said slowly, shoulders tense and on guard. I shook my head.

"That's not what I'm talking about." I growled. She scowled.

"Then what did I do this time?" She questioned. I crossed my arms, staring at her. "Well?"

"You didn't say goodbye." I said shortly. She looked at me, surprised. "You just left, Dani. No goodbye, no explanation. The only people that even knew you'd left were Kaz and your brother."

"I..." She trailed off, unsure what to say to that.

"And then, to make matters worse, you don't speak to any of us for a year. Sorry, no. You spoke to Oliver. Twice. Since Christmas." I added. She looked away and I let my voice soften a tiny bit, realizing just how harshly I'd snapped at her. "The only reason we knew you were alive is because of Alivia."

"I...I didn't think you wanted to talk to me." She admitted sheepishly.

"You shouldn't have left. We were a team." I insisted.

"My methods don't really work the best in a team setting." She murmured. I stared at her, feeling my heart break a little as I remembered that conversation I'd had with Oliver. That wasn't why she'd left, was it?

"Oliver told you that I said that?" I whispered. I hadn't entirely meant it at the time - I'd been angry and hurt at what she'd done with Bridget.

"No, well...not on purpose. Twin telepathy is sensitive. I kinda saw it in his head when we were talking. He didn't mean for me to set it." She explained. She sighed and turned to lean against the barrier. "You weren't wrong. My methods at the time were hardly good in a team setting."

"I didn't want you to leave." I walked over to her, frowning. "Dani, please, please tell me you didn't leave because...because of me?"

"No." She shook her head quickly, giving me a smile. "I left because of me."

"Why?" I pressed, leaning on the railing beside her. She shrugged. "No, I want an answer."

"I wasn't...I..." She frowned, trying to figure out how to explain it. She offered me a thin smile. "After Mom, I just didn't feel like I belonged here anymore. Not because of you, or Kaz, or any of the others. I just...this wasn't my home anymore. After all that time away, undercover, it just…didn't feel right."

"It could have been your home again." I insisted. She shook her head.

"No, I don't think so." She didn't sound angry about it, or even sad. She gave me a bittersweet smile. "I needed something new. Something different."

"Okay." I nodded. I wasn't sure I understood it, to be honest, but Dani seemed sure of herself, so I didn't want to argue with her. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded. "I am. I'm good."

"Good." I smiled, pushing my shoulder against hers. She laughed a little, pushing back. "Just...promise me you won't disappear again, okay? Call us."

"I'll call you everyday if you want." She promised. I smiled and she laughed. "I'm serious, Skylar. I will call, like, all the time. I will be the most annoying person in your life. You'll block my number, you'll be so annoyed with me."

"Trust me, you can't be more annoying than Kaz." I teased. She laughed lightly just as the front door opened. Jaden, Bree, and Noah had returned, bringing coffee with them. "Oh, thank God for caffeine."

"Agreed." Dani faked a loud yawn before following me into the penthouse.

**2027**

I licked my lips nervously, staring uncertainly at the large cave. "We could...we could wait a bit. You know, maybe just another year." I mentioned to Oliver. He chuckled a bit. "I'm serious."

"I know." He agreed, nodding. He sighed. "Sky, if we give in and wait another year, we'll do the same thing next year, and the year after, and the year after that."

"I know, I just..." I trailed off, watching the kids waiting outside of the cave with their parents; three little boys, all with short black hair and toffee brown eyes, and two little girls with dark brown waves of hair and warm brown eyes, all chatting happily with each other. Especially now, when they were so little, it was almost impossible to tell which boy was which, or spot the difference between the two girls.

"Mommy?" I looked down as Seraphina tugged at my arm, blue eyes wide. Oliver had put her hair in braids this morning (apparently, I didn't do them right, according to her), but you could still tell that her hair was slightly lighter than the other girls' hair.

"Yeah, sweetie?" I asked gently. She looked nervously at the other kids, some of whom were staring at us. Well, staring more at Oliver - Sera may look a little different than the others, but Oliver stood out like a sore thumb compared to the identical Calderan fathers.

"Do I have to go?" She whined. "Can't I go to work with you or Daddy?"

"I'm sorry, Sera. You need to go to school." Oliver told her.

"But why?" Sera protested.

"You need to learn stuff, honey." Oliver explained. I smiled at her.

"Don't you want to grow up to be really smart?" I asked. She frowned.

"Why can't you and Daddy teach me stuff?" She complained.

"Well, we don't know everything. That's why we get people who know more than us to teach you." I told her. She sighed dramatically, clearly not liking the idea. Before she could mutter about it being unfair, I added, "Plus, you can make some new friends."

"Do I have to?" The six-year-old deadpanned.

"I..." I'd never met a kid not interested in meeting new people.

"Okay Seraphina, I'll make you a deal. If you go to school and at least try to make new friends, I'll make your favorite dinner for tonight." Oliver suggested, bending down to look her in the eye. Her face brightened immediately, thoughts of Oliver's homemade Chinese food swirling around in her head. "Deal?"

"Okay, deal." Seraphina agreed. She leaned forward to peck Oliver on the cheek, then kissed me on mine before running towards the front of the cave. Oliver and I stuck around, waiting until Hapax the Elder grumpily ushered the kids inside for their private lesson (I have no idea who managed to convince him to teach them, but I had to admit, I was glad it was someone we were familiar with).

"You think she's going to be okay?" I asked, glancing at Oliver. He frowned but nodded.

"Yeah. Sera will be fine." He assured me. I nodded thoughtfully, glancing towards the cave entrance.

**2033**

I smirked a little, leaning against the door frame. Oliver hadn't noticed me yet, too engrossed in his work to realize that I was there, and the music in his headphones playing so loudly that an explosion could go off in the room and he wouldn't hear it. Seraphina, on the other hand, was fast asleep on the bench in his office, an old book from Earth lying on her stomach while her head rested against the thin cushioning between her and the rocky furniture.

Oliver had never quite gotten used to the way that Calderans used rocks in all our furniture, so his office in the Intergalactic Mighty Med was made to be as comfortable as possible. It wasn't much, though he was the only one who ever complained.

I waited for a full minute, but after he still didn't realize that I was there, I carefully opened the container in my hands, pulled out an olive, and flicked it towards him. I grinned a little as it hit him right in the forehead, causing him to look up in surprise. "Hey," he greeted, before glancing down at the olive. "Did you just flick this at me?"

"No. No idea where it came from." I replied. He gave me a look and I laughed lightly, careful not to wake our sleeping twelve-year-old.

"Horace mentioned you were pulling a double, so I thought I'd bring you dinner and pick up Sera."

"You didn't have to." He raised his chin to kiss me as I settled on the edge of his desk. I shrugged.

"I was gonna pick something up on my way home anyway. Didn't feel like cooking." I replied. He frowned.

"How bad are things out there?" He asked, serious. I sighed.

"Restless. There are rumors that the Venusians are going to break the peace treaty." I answered, remembering what I'd heard one of the younger Calderan heroes, Elias, say this morning. I noticed Oliver's frown and shook my head. "It's just talk. They wouldn't be stupid enough to break the treaty."

"I don't know - the Venusians aren't exactly the most friendly species." He reminded me. I rolled my eyes.

"You act like they're Klingons or something." I teased.

"What's a Klingon?" Seraphina asked, sitting up, her book falling to the ground before she could remember it was there. I glanced uneasily at Oliver, wondering how much she'd overheard. The last thing either of us wanted was for her to worry about a war that would never happen. Oliver shook his head at me to reassure me that she hadn't heard enough, then fixed Sera with a mock-surprised look.

"How is it that I've never shown your Star Trek?" He questioned.

"Because it's a dumb series." I replied, standing up. I looked at Sera. "Tired, sweetie?"

"I, um...I may have stayed up a little late practicing my forms." She admitted.

"I know - I could see your light on when I came in." I told her sternly. "Bedtime is bedtime, Sera. You know the rules."

"Sorry, Mom." She apologized. Oliver shook his head and looked at me.

"If Star Trek is such a dumb series, how do you know what Klingons are?" He challenged.

"Because I let you drag me to WAY too many sci-fi movies when we were younger." I kissed him again before putting my arm around Seraphina's shoulders and leading her out of the room. "Let's get you out of here before he starts teaching you the language."

"There's a language?" She asked, confused as she grabbed her book.

"Alright, that's it! We're watching a Star Trek marathon tomorrow!" Oliver called after us, hopefully joking. Hopefully.

**2038**

I collapsed into one of the chairs in the kitchen, feeling utterly exhausted and spent. I hadn't even bothered to turn on any of the lamps coming in, I was so tired.

I'd spent the day working with the Calderan guard, training some of the newer recruits on how to handle hand-to-hand combat. A couple of years ago, I'd loved coming in to train the new recruits - they were always so eager to get their asses handed to them, and some of them actually did show some real promise at being genuine heroes and warriors one day. But now...there were too many recruits, their training rushed and crammed to save time and get them out in the field as soon as they could handle it.

"How was your day?" I felt Oliver's hands press gently on my shoulders, his thumbs tracing tiny circles in the base of my neck.

"Awful." I murmured. "You?"

"Bout the same." He said, sounding as solemn as I was. I sighed.

"Where's Sera?" I asked.

"At Mighty Med, helping Apollo with some paper work. Susanne says she's really there this time, not out playing vigilante again." He assured me. I nodded, grateful that our daughter seemed to have listened to us when we'd made it clear that she wasn't ready to be out there yet. A part of me felt guilty - I'd been a fully-fledged hero when I was younger than she was now - but things were different now. Caldera was different now, and the last thing I wanted was for her to get hurt out there.

"I'm worried, Oliver." I murmured, glancing at him. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know." He admitted, bending down to look at me. He offered me a gentle smile. "But we'll figure it out. We always do, right?"

"Right." I nodded lightly. I smiled at him. "Yeah, we'll be okay."

"Yeah." He kissed me lightly on the nose before standing up. "You coming to bed?"

I smiled and took his hand. "Yeah, I'm coming." I agreed, following him towards our bedroom. He was right. Life on Caldera hadn't been easy in these past couple of years, but we always managed to come out on top. We'd be okay.


	35. Oliver Short

**2004**

I didn't really like school trips. They were always so boring to me, even if Dee liked them. She had more friends than me, and always managed to have fun, even if she did get into trouble a lot. Mommy said not to worry about not having a lot of friends - we were only in JK and there was a lot of time to make more.

Kids thought I was weird, just because I liked action figures (Dee keeps calling them dolls, but they're not) and superheroes a lot. So, while the other kids were playing in the sand or up on the pier with Mrs. Adams, I was alone, sitting by the boardwalk, pretending that my action figures were fighting each other.

They were in mid-battle when a shadow suddenly loomed over me. "Hey, is that Black Falcon?" I looked up to see another boy standing over me. He was my age, with short black hair and a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah." I replied. His grin grew.

"Cool! I love Black Falcon!" He exclaimed. I smiled a little. "Can I play with you? My big brother took my dolls."

"They're called action figures." I grumbled. He shrugged.

"Who cares?" He replied, dropping into the sand next to me. "Can I play with you?"

"Okay." I replied, giving him the Black Falcon toy. I looked around, wondering where he came from - he wasn't from the school. "I'm Oliver."

"I'm Kaz." He grinned. "My brother works here."

"Cool." I grinned. We started playing with the action figures for a while, until Mr. Taylor started calling everyone for lunch. "Are you going to be here after lunch?"

"Sure." He replied. Suddenly, a very high-pitched scream came from the pier. Teachers started running towards the pier, and I looked around, wondering where my sister had gone to.

**2015**

"Oh, Ollie." Dani sang, putting her arm around my shoulder. I looked up, knowing that tone usually meant trouble of some sort. Dani smirked and pointed past me towards one of the cardboard cut-outs in the Domain. "Look who it is!"

I gasped, looking at one particular cardboard cut-out in awe. "It's Skylar Storm!" I exclaimed, running over to the cutout. It was of a young woman wearing a black and pink uniform with a silver lightning bolt on her chest. Her dark was flowing out past her shoulders, as if it were caught in the breeze, the single, thick, pink streak visible for all to see. "She's my favorite comic book superhero! She has twenty-four superpowers, including x-ray vision, so she can see how big my heart is."

Kaz and Dani smirked at each other, and my best friend grabbed the cardboard cutout, moving it around slightly.

"Oh, Oliver," Kaz said in a higher pitch, pretending to be her, "Come here and kiss me, but be careful because you know I'm made of cardboard."

He began making kissing noises, pushing the cardboard cutout towards me.

"Kaz, Kaz, stop!" I exclaimed, pushing it away. "You heard Wallace and Clyde; no touching the merchandise."

"Oh, it's fine." Kaz rolled his eyes, even as Dani took the cardboard cutout from him.

"What's the worst that can happen?" My sister questioned, placing the cutout down. It tipped over and hit the nearby toy gun, which shot a dart into the air. The dart hit a large UFO that was hanging from the ceiling and it broke in two, the top half remaining tied to the ceiling, while the bottom half fell onto Kaz and I, trapping us together.

Dani looked at us, shocked. "Aside from that, I mean."

"Get us out of here!" I cried, trying in vain to move my arms. Dani grimaced, looking uncertain, but took the UFO saucer from the bottom and tried to lift it over our heads. After a few minutes of her trying to get it off, and Kaz and I trying to get out, it because obvious that it wasn't going to work. "I-I don't think I can."

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" I demanded. Kaz chuckled.

"Fly off to another planet?" He suggested jokingly. "What planet is Skylar Storm supposed to be from, again?"

"Not helping." I muttered, much to his and Dani's amusement. "Dani!"

"Sorry, I just…" She trailed off before taking a breath. "Okay, I'm going to call us a taxi, and we'll head to the ER, see if they can do anything about this."

"One problem with that, Dee – we don't have any money." Kaz pointed out. I groaned.

"I'm not walking to the hospital like this." I declared. Dani made a face.

"Do you, uh, have a better plan? Because the only other thing I can think of is calling Mom." She said bluntly. I looked at her for a moment.

"Walking it is." I decided. She gave me and Kaz an apologetic smile.

"Sorry." She apologized before opening the door for us.

"Hey, you can't take that!" Wallace or Clyde (I couldn't quite see them from here) shouted.

"We'll bring it back!" Dani promised, hurrying us out the door before they could argue. I sighed – this day could not get any weirder.

**2015**

"Man, look at all this cool stuff." Kaz looked around, having put his new communicator in his pocket. He walked over to a nearby table and picked a metal bowl up before examining it with a curious look in his eyes. "I wonder what this is. Some kind of high-tech memory restorer?" Before Dani or I could stop him, he'd already placed it on his head. I glanced at my sister, who was struggling not to laugh at him.

"That's a bedpan." I told him, watching his eyes go wide at the revelation.

"Ew!" Kaz shouted, throwing it as far away from himself as possible. It landed at the feet of a superhero, and when I turned to apologize for his behaviour, I felt my heart stop. Skylar Storm herself, clad in her signature pink suit, was standing before us, looking completely unamused by the situation. "'Sup girl." Kaz smirked at her, while I just stared.

"Wait, you're Skylar Storm." I realized. She smiled.

"No way! Dude," Dani smirked, a mischievous look in her eyes, "you were just making out with a cardboard cut-out of her!"

"No, I wasn't!" I snapped at her quickly. I sent Dani a glare, begging her to shut up, and her smirked widened. I turned to Skylar, hoping that she would ignore my sister. "Hi, I'm Oliver. I'm a big fan of your work. You have so many amazing powers."

"Had so many amazing powers." She corrected. I frowned, noticing how upset she seemed to be. "Yesterday, I was ambushed by the Annihilator. He neutralized my powers, stole my invisible flying motorcycle, and he even stole my costume! He left me standing there in my underwear."

Well, that created a very distracting image in my head. It wasn't until she snapped in front of my face that I was able to tear my mind away from that thought. "I will definitely be buying that comic when it comes out." I said to Kaz and Dani, who smirked in response.

"Anyway, I came here to Mighty Med to get my powers restored…" She stopped, looking at Kaz with this curious look in her eyes. She glanced at her hand, a smile forming on her face. "Unless…explode!" She raised her hand at Kaz, a hopeful look in her beautiful brown eyes. I watched as her smile faded to a disappointed scowl. "Nothing!"

"Bummer." Kaz told her, giving her a sympathetic smile. Then he frowned as the same thought occurred to all three of us. "Wait, if you did have your powers, wouldn't I have just exploded?"

"Into a million pieces." She replied with a dreamy smile. Kaz turned to us, eyes a lit with excitement.

"Awesome!" He high-fived us. As much as it would have sucked to be blown up like that, I had to admit, it would have been pretty cool to have a superhero use their powers on you. Especially if that superhero was Skylar Storm.

A part of me wanted to help her, make sure she got her powers back as soon as possible, and I knew that that part of me would take over. But a smaller part of me wanted her to stick around for a while.

**2016**

"Huh?" Dani sat up quickly, startled out of a bad dream by the balled up socks I'd thrown at her. She looked around, blinking in confusion until her gaze landed on me. She looked down at the socks lying on her stomach before tossing it back at me. "Ollie!"

"Sorry. You okay?" I asked gently. She hesitated, then shook her head.

"Where's Kaz?" She asked, trying to change the topic. Her voice was rough, hoarse. She glanced at the mattress he'd been sleeping on when she had first snuck in here. The blankets were at the far end of it, twisted in a ball, and my best friend was nowhere to be seen.

"Downstairs. I think he and Skylar are talking." I replied. She nodded, biting her lip. "You want to talk about it?"

"I..." She trailed off, her voice hitching. "Liv..."

I felt my heart clench at the mention of our friend. I still couldn't believe that she was gone - just this morning, before she'd left for her meeting with the League of Heroes, we'd been joking about fake names to tease Spotlight with while he tried to guess her real one.

"Dee..." I said, but then I stopped. What was I supposed to say? Her best friend was dead; as much I was feeling Alivia's loss, she had been Dani's best friend. They might not have known each other for more than a couple of years, I knew that Dani couldn't imagine her life without Alivia anymore than I could imagine mine without Kaz.

Dani didn't say anything. She did, however, move from the chair she'd been sleeping in to sit on the edge of my bed, facing the window. I sat up and waited for her to speak. After a couple of minutes, I opened my mouth to say something when she finally broke the silence.

"Screw you, Geminus." She murmured. I stopped, confused.

"What?" I asked.

"The last words I ever said to her." She gave me a bitter smile. I put my hand on her shoulder.

"What did you guys fight about?" I asked carefully. She started shaking her head, blinking back tears. "Dee?"

"No. It...it doesn't matter. It was stupid." She muttered. "I just...this is horrible, Ollie."

"I know." I agreed. She shook her head again, then looked at me.

"What do we do?" She whispered. I sighed.

"We stop them, whoever this was." I replied. She was looking at me, eyes wide and desperate. "We stop them and we make her proud." Dani was nodding, listening. "That sound good?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds good." Dani agreed, face twisting into a an expression of grim determination.

**2017**

"I didn't even know these places still existed!" Skylar laughed a little, leaning into my arm, which was wrapped around her shoulders. We were sitting on the roof of a car I'd borrowed for the night (Mr. Davenport had a collection of vehicles at our disposal for missions, though we very rarely used them), watching a Disney film at a drive-in theater. It wasn't my favorite movie in the world, but it was all they were playing here.

"Yeah, but it's way cooler than just going to the Centium Cinema." I pointed out. She nodded in agreement, smiling at me. "What?"

"Nothing." She replied, still smiling. I smiled back, only vaguely paying attention to the film.

Skylar and I had been dating for about a month now, and even with everything going on with Roman and Riker, it still made this past month the best I'd ever had.

"Do you want more popcorn?" I offered, noticing her bucket getting empty. I reached into my pocket, confirming that I still had enough cash left to get her another snack. I started to get up, when I felt her hand on my arm.

I looked back down to see if she wanted something else, just for her to press her lips against mine. I was so surprised that I almost forgot to kiss her back. I leaned into the kiss, one of my hands wrapping around her waist and pulling her closer as she deepened the kiss.

It was our first kiss. Well, sort of. The first kiss while we were dating, the first one that wasn't complicated by evil possessions or any of the other wacky stuff that seemed to surround our lives. The first kiss that really meant something between us.

And it was absolutely perfect.

**2019**

I tapped my arm impatiently, leaning my head back to look at the ceiling while I waited for the sounds downstairs to quieten and for Kaz and Dani to come upstairs. In the end, I only heard one pair of footsteps ascend the stairs, Kaz stepping into our room after a few minutes.

"Hey, I didn't think you'd still be up." He commented, looking at me in surprise as he carefully shut the door behind him. I shrugged.

"What did Horace say?" I asked, trying to sound disinterested. Kaz glanced at me before pulling off his shirt.

"A concussion, couple of minor contusions. The concussion is probably mild at worst, but he wants her to come back in if she starts feeling dizzy or anything." He recited as he dug around his laundry basket for a semi-clean sleep shirt. He looked over at me, an equally relieved and reassuring smile on. "She'll be fine."

I hummed in response, nodding. I paused, noticing that she hadn't come upstairs yet. "She not sticking around?"

"She said she couldn't sleep...where would she go, man?" He looked at me incredulously.

"I don't know, Liv's? They're pretty chummy lately." I muttered. He gave me a look. "What?"

He shook his head before pulling on the shirt he'd found. He eventually stood up and looked at me. "Look, I know better than to get involved in your twin stuff, but don't pretend you don't care, Oliver. I saw your face when you realized how much danger she was in."

I didn't bother to respond to that, and Kaz didn't seem to be waiting for one either. He switched off the light and climbed into his bed. I sighed and dropped onto my own bed. "I'm sorry." I apologized. A second later, his lamp flickered on.

"You don't have to apologize, just cut her some slack, Oliver." He told me, a confused look on his face. I shook my head. I wasn't sorry for being mad at Dani. She wasn't the one I owed an apology to.

"No, Kaz, I'm sorry for not listening to you. I should have listened when you were telling me that something wasn't adding up, and I definitely should have listened when you told me that she was under cover. You wouldn't have made something like that up."

"Yeah, well," he shrugged, "it was kind of hard to believe."

"I guess. Still. Sorry." I said again. Maybe he had a point, but things had been rough between the two of us ever since Dani left for her undercover mission, and that had mostly been my fault.

"It's okay. We're cool." He promised me, flashing me a grin. I smiled back.

"By the way, how did you figure it out, anyway?" He'd never said how he'd known that she was undercover, just that she was. To my confusion, Kaz started chuckling. "What?"

"Trust me, man, you don't want to know." He told me, smirking.

"Why?" I asked slowly. The last time he'd smirked like that, he'd just come up with a plan to prank Calla and Chase at Halloween, and it was the kind of smirk that sometimes made me wonder about his sanity.

"Because it's definitely going to come back and bite me in the ass one day, and it's probably better if you're not part of it." He replied, sounding almost pleased about that. Deciding that he might be right, I nodded slowly.

"...okay." I agreed, deciding to stay out of it.

**2020**

I paused outside the coffee shop, feeling weirdly nervous about this. I shouldn't be - I was just meeting Dani for coffee, right? Sure, it had been a while since I'd last seen her (nearly 8 and a half months), but it was Dani. Alivia had reassured me that she was okay, and that her reaching out wasn't a sign of anything being wrong, but maybe it was just my brotherly instincts telling me that I should be worried.

Hell, maybe she wouldn't even show. I mean, she'd promised to stay in contact after she'd left at first, and aside from one phone call a week after she'd bailed, I hadn't heard from her until Christmas.

But sure enough, she was sitting at a table in the back, bouncing her knee anxiously as she looked at her phone. I smiled - maybe I wasn't the only one feeling a little awkward at this impromptu family reunion - and walked over.

"Hey." She looked up at the sound of my voice, smiling when I sat down.

"Hey." She replied, putting her phone away.

"So, Alivia's got you working a mission down in Centium?" I checked. I knew she hadn't been here on official business, but I figured if something was up, it would be a good way to get her to open up.

"Chicago, actually. Thought I'd drop by and say hi on my way home." She explained. She paused, smirking a little, before adding, "Hi."

"Hi." I chuckled, relaxing a bit when I saw that Dani was up to her old tricks. I gave her a soft smile. "You know, the rest of the team would love to see you."

"I, uh...I don't think I'm there yet." She admitted. I nodded, though I frowned. Dani had been really confused about where she belonged after everything with Mom, but she'd been on pretty good terms with everyone when she'd left. Well, except Skylar, but they'd stopped fighting, and though things hadn't been perfect, I knew that Skylar hadn't really wanted to lose Dani like we had. "So, how's Skylar?" Dani cleared her throat. I looked at her carefully, wondering if she'd just read my mind or if it was a coincidence that she'd brought her up. Whichever it was, Dani gave no sign. "You guys still good?"

"We're great. You know, they just made her the official Ambassador of Caldera." I informed her. I was really proud of Skylar for that - there'd been a ceremony and everything.

"Cool." Dani smiled, nodding at the news.

"Uh, so what about you?" I vaguely remembered her mentioning a date or two in some of the texts we'd exchanged since Christmas. "Weren't you seeing someone? Christian, was it?"

"That didn't really work out." She replied, shrugging awkwardly.

"I'm sorry." I apologized gently. Dani shook her head, forcing a smile onto her face.

"It's not the end of the world. Besides, he really didn't like animals very much." She told me. Oh yeah, that would definitely be a deal breaker for my sister. "Oh, I didn't tell you - Alan adopted half a dozen ducklings and Katy's being really nice to them." She added, genuine excitement in her tone. I raised an eyebrow, remembering how that cat could be harsh to anyone when she was in a mood. Well, anyone other than Dee or Kaz. "Well, she's not trying to eat them anymore, which I'm pretty sure if being super nice for a cat."

I laughed a little. "Why did Alan adopt a bunch of baby ducks?"

"Well-" She started, stopping when my phone vibrated to let me know I'd gotten a text. Her smile faded a little when she saw who it was that had sent the text, so I quickly put my phone away. "How is he?"

"Kaz?" I had to sure. She nodded. "He's good. Actually, he's..." I hesitated before continuing, not wanting to hurt her, "He's seeing someone."

"Good." Dani nodded quickly, giving me a fake smile. "I mean, I'm happy for him."

"Really?" She couldn't lie to me.

"Does she make him happy?" She questioned. I nodded. "Then yeah, I am happy for him. He deserves that."

"Okay." She was lying through her teeth, but there was this look in her eyes. She wasn't just lying to me, she was lying to herself. And maybe it was for the best if they both moved on. "So, Alan and the ducks, how did that happen?"

Her smile returned. "Okay, so you're going to find this hilarious." She told me before starting on the long story of how Alan ended up a duck momma. I smiled. Even if she was only here for a little bit, it was good to see Dani again. I had to admit, I'd missed my twin.

**2021**

"Alright, let's move this into OR #2." I instructed, looking over the inventory list. The equipment Calla had sent for the Calderan Mighty Med or Mighty Med 2.5. (we were still experimenting with names) had finally arrived, and I wanted to get the hospital set up as quickly as possible.

It was such a different setup than we'd had at Mighty Med 2.0. – until I'd landed on the planet, I'd forgotten that instead of buildings, the locals used caves for their shelters and such. Thankfully, Skylar had already had an idea of where to set up the hospital. There was a large system of caves barely a kilometer away from the main town, with more than enough room inside to serve as the hospital. Even better, it was fairly close to Skylar's old cave, where we'd moved back into once we arrived on Caldera.

"Alright, what can I do?" Skylar demanded, hands on her hips. I smiled a little, not missing the tiny bump that had started to show under her tighter shirts.

"You can tell Eleanor and Stuart where to bring the medical supplies." I replied, offering her the inventory clipboard. She crossed her arms and looked at me. "What?"

"There's a million machines that need to be moved, and you're having me just tell people what to do? Really?" She questioned. She leaned in close. "You do realize that I have super strength too, right?"

"You do realize you're pregnant, right?" I countered. She rolled her eyes.

"I'm barely in the second trimester, Oliver. These things take, like, nine months, right?" She questioned. "I can still move stuff."

"You should take it easy." I called after her as she started heading for the devices.

"You should stop worrying." She called back. I smiled a little, shaking my head as I went back to the inventory list.

**2022**

"Well, this is...different." Kaz commented, shaking his head at the set up before us. I smirked a little, unable to disagree with him. Skylar and I had agreed to combine Calderan and American wedding traditions, and we'd agreed on everything for today's ceremony, but it didn't really hit me until now how utterly unique it had turned out to be.

The 'aisle' was really a river of lava, coming from the volcano half a mile away, with small rocks, all around the size of a dinner plate, scattered throughout them. Kaz and I were standing on a much larger platform in the center of the river, while Chase and Jaden stood on the other side of the river. Bree and Calla were on the right side of the river, both wearing short, strapless, dark grey dresses that Skylar had insisted were custom for her people at a wedding. The rest of the guests were all behind them, putting Kaz and I in the middle of crescent moon shaped crowd.

The crowd was massive - Skylar and I hadn't realized just how many people we had to invite until we started making the invitation list. Of the course, the team was there, but so was Mr. Davenport and the others from the Bionic Headquarters, almost every member of the New League of Heroes, Horace and most of the staff from Mighty Med 2.0., and even nearly two dozen heroes who'd retired prior to Roddisieus' attack.

In the end though, it didn't really matter who was there. Because as soon as Dani was done carefully stepping across the step stones, I caught sight of my bride, and it was like the whole world disappeared.

Skylar didn't even need to look at her feet as she crossed the river, each step on the stepping stones relaxed and unafraid of falling into the lava below. Her hands were clutching the front of her dress, even though the white, flowing fabric didn't go past her knees. The glow of the lava seemed to frame her before me, making her look even more like the angel I'd fallen for the first day I'd seen her.

"Ready?" She breathed as I offered her a hand to help her step up onto the platform.

"Ready." I agreed. Dani pulled out a pair of ribbons, the exact shade of pink that Skylar's superhero uniform had been back in the day, from her clutch and offered one to Kaz.

"Ollie, you go first." My sister told me, smiling brightly. I sucked in a breath, then took Skylar's hands in mine.

"Skylar Storm, you are the love of my life." I told her. She blushed at that, her smile widening. "And I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to be the perfect husband, and the perfect father to Seraphina."

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my two-month-old daughter sleeping in Lily's arms, a tiny smile on her beautiful face.

I turned back as Dani carefully used one of the ribbons to tie my and Skylar's left hands together. "Skylar?" Kaz prompted.

"Oliver Short," she murmured and I felt my heart soar, "you are the greatest thing to ever enter my life. I love you, and I can't wait be married to you."

I smiled at her, feeling the exact same way as Kaz tied our right hands together. "Alright, we now pronounce you husband and wife." Dani declared proudly.

"Now break the bonds so you guys can kiss." Kaz added. I chuckled as Dani elbowed him, but we did as we were told: I cast a wave of ice over the ribbons just as Skylar sent a soft burst of her plasma blast into them. The two bursts of power combined shattered the ribbons into minuscule pieces that looked almost like sparkles as they floated to the ground.

I didn't wait to see them land, however, as I leaned in to kiss Skylar.

**2037**

"This isn't fair!" I sighed as my daughter glowered at me, trying her best to look as threatening as she possibly could from a hospital bed. I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Mom started working as a superhero when she was eleven. I'm fifteen!"

"You could have been killed, Seraphina!" I snapped, losing my patience. She shook her head, looking away. "Do you understand that? You could have died."

"But I didn't." She insisted.

"That's not the point! Your mother and I specifically told you that you're weren't allowed to leave the city, and you disobeyed us, Sera." I looked at her, exasperated. She rolled her eyes. "It's literally a war zone out there, Sera. What part of that don't you understand?"

"The part where I'm supposed to stand by and let all that violence happen and not even try to do anything about it just because you don't think I'm old enough yet." She declared.

"You're too much like your mother." I muttered. She got her bullheaded, white knight complex from Skylar, that was for sure.

"Better her than you." Seraphina replied coolly, not missing a beat. I looked at her sharply, but before I could even think of a response, my wife beat me to it.

"Sera?" Skylar came bursting through the entrance doors, her panicked gaze searching the room before landing on us. Her face softened with relief before she came walking over. I could see her forcing herself not to run. "Honey, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." "She has a broken tibia." We both answered at the same time. Sera gave me a look, before looking up at Skylar.

"Maybe. We haven't done x-rays yet, so it might not be broken." She insisted. Skylar nodded carefully, before looking at me.

"Why haven't we done x-rays yet?" She inquired.

"Because the room's being used." I answered. She nodded just as Felix, an intern Horace had lent us for the summer, walked over.

"Actually, they just finished. Dr. Hilligan asked me to come bring Seraphina up." He explained. I nodded.

"Alright. We'll see you in a bit." I told her. She huffed in annoyance, flopping back on her pillows as Felix carefully drove the movable bed towards the exam rooms. Skylar waited until they'd left before turning to me.

"Well, she seems to be in a lovely mood." She observed. I raised my eyebrows and nodded, sitting down on an empty hospital bed. Skylar sat down next to me, her hand resting on mine.

"Remember when she was sweet and innocent?" I questioned.

"Do you remember when we were?" She snorted in amusement.

"I'm glad you find this so funny." I commented. She shook her head, bumping shoulders with me.

"Just trying to get you to relax a little. You look like you're about to bust a vein." She explained before her expression turned more serious. "So how long do you think this has been going?"

"No idea. What do we even call this?" I wouldn't exactly call it superhero-ing.

"Vigilantism?" Skylar suggested. I shrugged. "So, how do you want to handle this? Ground her?"

"One month?" I suggested. She shook her head.

"Two at least. It's not really a punishment if she's going to be stuck at home with a broken leg for the entirety of it. And besides, she needs to learn this. Elian told me what happened - she could have been killed."

"That's what I told her." I assured her. I sighed. "Want me to tell her when she's done here? She already thinks I'm the bad guy - might as well only have her mad at one of us."

"She doesn't think you're the bad guy." Skylar told me, tone patient. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Yeah, you only heard the last part of that conversation, dear." I commented. Skylar gave me a look.

"She's upset and she's in pain. She didn't mean whatever she said." She assured me. I nodded slightly. "And I'll tell her that's she grounded. You're supposed to be the fun parent, remember?"

I almost laughed at that. It was true - Skylar was the more strict of the two of us. I'd always hated setting rules for Sera beyond what I had to (maybe it was because I'd seen the way my sister had rebelled against our mother's overly strict policies), and yet it was Skylar that had turned out to be our daughter's hero. I knew that she hadn't meant what she said before, but she'd been acting out for a couple of weeks now, and I didn't think that this injury would stop that.

"Hey, I was thinking. Maybe once things calm down a bit, maybe we should take Sera to Earth. We could all use a vacation, I think." I mentioned. Skylar nodded, smiling a little.

"When things calm down." She cautioned. I nodded. Things around here had been chaotic since things with the Venusians first went off the rails, and until we managed to find a way to make peace with them, Skylar and I would both be needed here. Maybe it was naive to hope that things would end quickly, but I was still hopeful.


	36. Kaz Broadman

**2004**

By time my new friend Oliver and I got to the beach, most of the teachers had brought the students up to the food court. My big brother, Kenny, was still on the beach though, talking with one of the teachers and a girl my age who was both crying and soaking wet.

"Dee!" Oliver recognized her I guessed and ran up to her, hugging her tightly when he saw that she was crying.

"What happened?" I asked, a little confused. The teacher looked like she was about to tell me to go join the other students, even though I didn't go to JK like Oliver, but Kenny spoke up first.

"It's okay, he's my brother. My mom couldn't find a sitter, so I had to take him to work with me." He told the teacher. She nodded.

"Danica here fell into the water." She explained, mostly to Oliver. "Thank god there was a lifeguard on duty."

"It was nothing." Kenny said quickly. Danica shook her head, pushing away from Oliver.

"I didn't fall! He pushed me!" She insisted. Kenny looked at the teacher, then at Danica.

"One of the other kids, sweetie?" He asked. She shook her head and he frowned. "An adult?" She nodded, pouting. "Could you tell me who?"

She frowned and looked up at the pier. I winced - that looked like a long fall. "I can't see him." She told Kenny. He nodded.

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for scary guys who push people into the water." He promised her, a serious look on his face. She nodded, sniffling a little. Kenny looked at her teacher. "You should probably call her parents or something. I'm sure she's fine, but just to be sure."

"I tried, but neither are answering their phone. Thank you though - we'll keep trying."

"Do you wanna play with Kaz and I?" Oliver asked, looking at Danica. She looked at me, realizing I was there for the first time.

"No way!" I protested before she could answer. He looked at me. "She has cooties!"

"No I don't!" She retorted, upset. I nodded.

"Yes you do! You're a girl - all girls have cooties!" I repeated exactly what my other big brother, Kasey, told me.

"Kaz..." Kenny sighed.

"I'm not a girl!" Danica was getting upset with me now. She crossed her arms, even as Oliver looked at her, confused.

"Yes you are." He told her, frowning as he looked at her. She rolled her eyes, now more annoyed with me than she was upset at ending up in the water. Kenny and the teacher were looking at each other, amused.

"I'm not a girl." She insisted. She looked at me. "Can I play with you if I'm not a girl?"

I thought about it. I suppose... "But you have a girl's name."

She frowned. "No...my name is...Dani..." She trailed off, then shrugged. "Dani's not a girl's name. Can I play with you now?"

"Okay." I shrugged. "You can play with us."

She grinned and looked up at the teacher. "I can go play, right?"

"I'm still going to call your parents, but until then...stay where we can see you." She agreed reluctantly, shooting Kenny a glance. He was smirking, shaking his head at us.

"Cool. C'mon." Oliver grabbed her hand and Dani followed us over to where we'd left the toys.

**2015**

"No, no. I already got that one." I said to Dani, noticing as she lifted one of the comics out of the pile to examine. She frowned.

"You do? Ollie told me you didn't when I mentioned I wanted to borrow it." She replied, seeming confused. I chuckled.

"That's because he was already borrowing it." I mentioned. She shot her brother a look, shaking her head.

"Jerk." She muttered half-heartedly before going back to the pile. She looked up at me without raising her head. "I can borrow it when he's done, right?"

"Only if I can borrow your Tecton #234." I offered. She grinned.

"Deal." She replied.

"Okay, Kaz." Oliver finally joined the conversation, having come up with his would-you-rather question for the game we tended to play when going through comics. It kinda distracted us from the fact that we couldn't exactly afford them. "Would you rather have Freeze Frame's power to stop time but you have to talk like a chicken, or Tecton's immunity to pain, but you'd have to wear a diaper?"

"Oh, I'd wear a diaper for two reasons." I smirked a little, glancing between the twins. "Number one…and number two."

Oliver chuckled and gave me a fist bump while Dani just shook her head, a smirk on her face. "What about you, Dani? A pain-free, diaper-wearing life, or a chicken-talking, time-stopping one?"

"I'm with Kaz on the diaper thing." She decided without a moment's thought. She looked up, her bangs falling in front of her eyes again. She didn't bother to push them away, comfortable with them obscuring her view a little. "The diapers would just save so much time too."

"Agreed." I grinned at her. I was about to propose my own would-you-rather when something caught my eye. "Guys, there it is," I announced, "the Meteorite of Zandor."

"It's the source of Tecton's immeasurable powers." Dani sighed in longing, staring at it with big eyes. "It's so cool."

"I have to have this." I declared. "Hidden in the Earth's core for millions of years, forged from a supernova in the Balazar Galaxy-"

"It says made in Taiwan." Oliver pointed out. I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I still want it." I replied. He shrugged and I looked at the price tag, hoping maybe it would be cheap enough that I could get one of my brothers to lend me the money for it. But even if I did all my siblings' chores for a month, I still wouldn't be able to afford it. "But I'll never be able to afford it." I sighed. Dani took it from me, grimacing when she saw the price for herself.

"Everything here is way over-priced." She muttered, announced.

"Yes, but we can still pose with it." Oliver suggested, smiling. I grinned back and looked at Dani.

"Commemorative fake photo?" I suggested. She beamed and slid close to me, with Oliver leaning in on my other side. I raised my hand to take a fake photo of us, commemorating yet another random day in our friendship.

**2015**

"And the award for the most humiliated people in the emergency room goes to the boys stuck in the flying saucer." Oliver complained. Dani bit her lip, looking a little guilty at his words.

"Take that, guy with his hand stuck in the gumball machine!" I cheered, nodding at the kid. Dani followed my gaze and smiled a little, amused, before walking around to face her brother.

"Ollie, I've apologized like a hundred times." She insisted. He didn't say anything, so she sighed in annoyance. "But c'mon, when has something like this ever happened?"

"Do you want me to answer that?" Oliver retorted.

"No." Dani grumbled. I craned my neck, trying to see her, but I couldn't see past the entrance to the ER. Just as I turned my head though, a strange man in a heavy trench coat walked in. Huh, that wasn't suspicious at all.

"This is so typical!" As Oliver complained, I turned us both around so I could keep my eyes on the trench coat man. Dani frowned and followed my gaze as the man walked into the storage closet. "You two always do these crazy things and expect me to just follow you!"

"Hold that thought and follow me." I'd only been half-paying attention anyway. Without waiting for him to respond, I dragged him towards the storage closet.

"Where are we going?" Dani asked, following behind.

"The guy who just walked into this closet – I think he was Blue Tornado!"

"You mean the superhero who can spin at the speed of sound?" Dani grinned.

"And who is make-believe?" Oliver added, slightly annoyed.

"Have an imagination, Ollie." Dani scolded before looking back at me with a grin.

"I know it doesn't make any sense, but it looked exactly like him. The same crooked nose, the same scar on his cheek, he even had a wispy beard!" I told them.

"Well, so does my grandmother!" Oliver protested. Dani nodded in agreement, but still opened the storage closet's door for us. I dragged Oliver in, and Dani squeezed in behind us. But to my disappointment, the room was totally empty, save the cleaning supplies.

"Kaz, there's no one in here." Dani pointed out. I looked around, confused. No, I was certain that he was in here.

"I-I don't get it. I saw him go in here." It didn't make sense…

"Well, maybe one of his powers is to turn himself into a roll of one-ply toilet paper." Oliver grabbed a roll of toilet paper off a shelf. I rolled my eyes. "Now, enough damage has been done today, so can we please just go?"

"Fine." I sighed, knowing that the sooner we got this UFO off, the sooner Oliver would be in a better mood. I went to open the door, but accidentally hit Dani with it. She knocked it back before stumbling towards us – there really wasn't any room in this storage closet – and knocking Oliver and I backwards.

"Hey!" Oliver protested as he tried to regain his balance.

"Whoa." Dani stepped back a second later, staring at something directly in front of Oliver…and one hundred percent out of my line of view.

"Check it out!" Oliver gasped. A little annoyed that I couldn't see, I gasped dramatically.

"I know! My mom had the exact same mop!"

"No, look!" Dani ignored my sarcasm and turned the saucer so I could see what they were looking at. It turned out to be a glowing section of the wall that definitely hadn't been there before. It was broken into 25 square pieces, with weird, partial symbols on the majority of them. "It's some sort of puzzle."

"I think I know what it is." Oliver realized, turning again. I raised my hands in defeat as I was once again turned to face the door.

"Is it the maze where you have to help the rabbit find its carrot?" I asked, keeping my eyes on Dani's face to gauge her reaction to whatever it was that Oliver was doing. "Because if so, you're on your own. Those things are impossible."

Dani smirked a little, then a second later her smile widened. "It's the symbol of Caduceo, the legendary healer of superheroes." Oliver explained, confirming that he had finished the puzzle.

I spun us around, wanting to see. He was right – it was the Caduceo symbol, with the word 'Enter' in big green letters at the bottom and a button labelled M at the top.

"Oh, it says enter." I realized, reaching up to press the button.

"I guess the big decision here is whether or not to push the button…" Oliver started saying without realizing what I'd done. "You want to push it, don't you?"

"He already did." Dani replied cheerfully, stepping back beside us as the wall in front of me began to split in two. We exchanged looks as it opened up, revealing what looked like almost a whole new world on the other side.

**2016**

I stole a glance through my rear-view mirror, keeping an eye on Dani's window. We needed to leave soon if we were going to catch the movie on time (or, at least in time to see the trailers - I don't care what other people say, I find them interesting), but she was still stuck inside, unable to come up with an excuse to leave. She'd texted me that she was just going to sneak out once she had the clear, but so far, there'd been no sign.

I was starting to wonder if this whole secret relationship thing was a good idea. I mean, it made sense - Oliver was going to freak out when he found out about us, and not in a good way - but it certainly did make things difficult. I mean, I'd been waiting out here for nearly thirty minutes just so I could take her on our first real date. She was worth it, for sure, but I couldn't help but wish it was a little easier.

I looked away from her window to look at my reflection. I looked okay, I guessed. I wasn't sure if I should try to dress up, or just go more casual - this might be a date, but it was Dani. If I hadn't impressed her with my looks yet, it was probably hopeless to start trying now. Still, I figured I was probably okay with a decent looking jacket, a plaid shirt, and a watch my brother had likely stolen based by the looks of it.

A few seconds later, and something in the background of the rearview mirror caught my eye. Turning around, I saw the window to Dani's room slide open and a figure climb out. I chuckled a little as she carefully walked across the roof to the tree the three of us used to use to sneak in after I accidentally made Oliver and Dani miss curfew. She climbed down using the carefully hidden rope ladder she'd added a few summers ago before jogging across her lawn to the car.

"Hey. Sorry, Ollie kept wanting my help asking Skylar to this upcoming school dance." Dani apologized, climbing into the passenger seat. She looked nice, wearing a blouse her mom had probably bought for her and a dark jacket, plus a pair of earrings I knew she reserved for special occasions.

"There's a dance?" I asked, surprised that I'd forgotten about it. Shit. "Are we, uh...going?"

To my relief, Dani shrugged. "Liv was saying that she might make me go, but you don't have to. I'm probably going to try and get out of it anyway."

"Whatever." I'd been hoping she wouldn't want me to go. Not only would that be definitely awkward - I wasn't too great at slow dancing, no matter how easy people claimed it was - but it would certainly make it harder to keep this secret.

"You ready to go?" Dani asked, flashing me a brilliant smile. Before responding, I leaned in to kiss her, pressing my lips against hers gently. She kissed me back before breaking the contact after a few moments.

"Now I am." I replied, earning an amused laugh from my girlfriend.

**2016**

"We have to figure out a way to stop my mom and turn her not evil." Oliver declared, looking frustrated with the entire situation.

"You think that's possible?" Dani questioned. I looked at her in concern. She was doing a good job at hiding it in front of the others, but I knew that this was all upsetting her a lot more than she let on. "I mean, it's not like with Skylar, Ollie. Mom wasn't infected with evilness or anything."

"We'll figure it out." He insisted.

"We will, I promise." Skylar added, giving him a concerned look before opening her arms out to him. "You okay? Do you want a hug?"

Before Oliver could accept the gesture, Horace pushed past him and wrapped his arms around Skylar. "I really do. Thank you, Skylar." He cried. I chuckled a little - despite the fact that I knew Horace was feeling this loss too, it was amusing to see the adult being the most emotional of the group.

"I got you, buddy. Bring it in." I offered, offering both him and Dani a hug. But something strange happened a few seconds after they'd touched me.

"What the hell...?" Dani muttered as we started to float into the air. I stared at the ground in shock, confused as to what was going on. We were flying. We were actually flying.

"Do we - do we have powers?" I gasped.

"When we touched my mom while she was holding the Arcturion, we must have absorbed some of its energy." Oliver realized. I laughed.

"I did it! I finally have powers!" I wanted to add that this was the greatest day of my life. I almost did, but then I realized it might not be appropriate, considering how bad today had been for everyone else.

"Are you kidding me?!" Skylar nearly shouted. I looked at her and realized how this must drive her nuts, us gaining powers while she still didn't have hers. She stormed off before Oliver could try to reassure her.

I looked at he and Dani, wondering if they were just as ecstatic as I was. They both looked amazed and a fair bit happier than they had ten minutes ago, so I figured they had to be, right?

We finally had powers! I'd been wanting to become a superhero since I discovered that they were real! And even though Oliver insisted it would never happen, and even Dani didn't really think I had a shot at it, here we were! With powers!

"Something weird is going on..." Horace looked at us, confused. "Boys, did you two switch shirts?"

"They're floating." Alivia pointed out the obvious, staring at us.

"No, that's not it." He frowned. Oliver chuckled, then looked down.

"Okay, let's get down." He suggested.

"We could do that." Dani smiled in that way that she did, looking excited and wild and so genuinely happy. "Or..."

I didn't know what she was about to suggest, but damn, I was up for anything so long as I could use my new powers alongside my best friends.

**2018**

"Dude, you go to the left, and I'll take the right." I whispered as loudly as I dared, gesturing on the screen which path I was talking about. The point of the video game was to get more stars than the other team, but without knowing which part of the maze the star was in, we had to split up.

"Got it." Oliver whispered back, sending his character down the path I'd chosen. He glanced behind him when it was the other team's turn, then at me. "Hey, is she okay?"

I gave Oliver a look, then glanced at my bed. Dani was lying on it, half-curled on her side and fast asleep. Katy was stretched out on her back besides Dani, watching our characters with a strange fascination.

"I think she's starting to feel better." I shrugged. The flu had hit Dani hard, but she'd actually been hungry this morning, so I figured the worst of it was over. "You realize you're gonna get sick next, right?"

"Twin Syndrome." Oliver muttered with a scowl. I chuckled at the name I'd given to their uncanny ability to always get sick right after each other. "But that wasn't what I was talking about. She's been acting...weird, right? I'm not imagining it?"

"I don't know." She'd been acting a little strange lately, secretive, true, but I wasn't worried or anything. Dani just had her moods sometimes. Though if Oliver was worried... "She's been doing a lot of stuff for Alivia lately."

"Yeah, any idea what that's about?" He asked me. I shrugged. "She said recruitment, but I don't get why Alivia can't get her own guys to do that."

"She probably just misses Dani. You know how they were when we were back in school." I mentioned. He shrugged and turned back to the game. We both played a couple of turns before I asked, "You worried?"

"No. Dee can handle herself. I just don't like her shutting me out." He mentioned. I shrugged.

"She's sick." I told him, as if it were the only explanation needed for her weird behavior. And honestly, it was probably was. Dani was weird when she was sick. She'd get super clingy and not want to be left alone - hence why we weren't playing video games in the living room, where we could have the volume and the lights on - but she'd get super moody and snappy at everyone. "She feels like crap. Let her be cranky."

Suddenly, I felt something lazily hit me in the back. I looked behind me to see Dani attempting to kick me with as little movement as possible. "Not cranky." She mumbled half into her pillow, her voice hoarse with sleep and sickness.

"How long have you been awake?" Oliver asked suspiciously.

"Long enough to hear him call me cranky." She gave up on trying to kick me. I chuckled a little.

"Sorry, Dee." I apologized. She made a small noise of acknowledgement before sitting up. She rubbed her eyes with one hand before blinking at the harsh light of the screen.

"Whatcha playing?" She asked, sliding off the bed to sit between the two of us. I smirked a little as she leaned against me, laying her head on my shoulder tiredly.

**2019**

Thankfully, it wasn't hard to find Dani. She'd gotten enough information to Alivia before going MIA that we were able to figure out a good map of the base. I'd volunteered to check the cells, knowing that if she had been caught by one of Bridget's goons, she'd most likely be there (assuming Bridget hadn't done something to her, but I didn't want to think of her being hurt or worse).

"Hey! Hey, is anyone there?" I nearly cried in relief at the sound of her voice, confirming both her location and her well-being. I followed the sound of her voice until I found her cell.

"Now, before you say anything, I think I'm the perfect size for a storm trooper, right?" I joked, coming close enough for her to see me. I stopped short, actually seeing her for the first time in weeks. She was paler than she should have been, with a busted lip, bruising around her neck, and what I prayed wasn't actually dried blood in her hair. "Dee, you alright?" I asked her, worried. She stared at me, not answering for a bit, and I worried that she might have a concussion.

"Kaz?" She whispered after a moment. I smirked a little, pulling out the tools that Chase had given me so I could pick the lock on her cell.

"Liv came to us when you didn't check in. Now, Chase showed me how to do this. We have to hurry though – that explosion that Skylar and Calla set up won't distract them for long, and we don't have enough manpower to take them all on here, alright?" I said quickly, glancing at her briefly as I started to work on getting her out of here.

"Kaz?" She repeated herself. I made a mental note to have her checked for a concussion.

"Don't worry. Give me a second." I promised her. I grinned as I managed to get the lock undone. "Yes!"

The moment I opened the door, Dani threw herself at me, burying her face in my shoulder. I chuckled once in surprise, hugging her back. I could feel hot tears on my shirt, and I rubbed her back gently.

We had to leave quickly, I knew that, but it had been so long since I'd held her in my arms, and I'd been so worried that Bridget or Gao had killed her or something...I needed a second with her as much as she needed one with me.

"Please don't hate me." Dani whispered then, to my surprise. I pulled away and looked at her. Her eyes, one of them starting to bruise, were wide with guilt and teary.

"Never. Never." I promised her. She looked at me like I hung the moon, taking a deep breath. I smiled at her. "Look, I'm not saying I'm not mad, but I don't hate you. I will never hate you, Dee. Okay?"

She didn't answer, but nodded. and I offered her my hand. "Now, ready to get out of here?"

She smiled back, the first smile I'd seen from her in a long, long time. "You have no idea." She told me, squeezing my hand as she took it.

**2021**

"Oh my God!" Dani laughed in amazement, hands gripping the fence as she stared out at the city. "This is...oh my God."

I chuckled in amusement, following her gaze. I had to admit, Paris was even prettier at night than it was during the day. We were absolutely going to get into serious trouble for being up here if we got caught - technically, the Eiffel Tower closed to the public a little before 1 AM, but Dani had wanted to see it when it wasn't so busy, so we'd flown up here around 3 in the morning. It was absolutely worth it though.

"God, why, why didn't we think of this before?" Dani glanced back at me before going on the tips of her toes to try and see even more. This European vacation had been an incredible idea, and since we didn't have to book any plane tickets (thank you geoleap watch and our ability to fly), we could actually go to a lot of the places that we'd never be able to afford otherwise.

"It is beautiful." I stepped back a little, one hand reaching into my back pocket. I took a deep breath before adding. "Just like you."

"Kissass." Dani glanced at me briefly before looking back at city. Then she looked back at me, having realized I wasn't standing right at the edge with her anymore. "Kaz, what are you...?"

Her voice died in her throat as I dropped down onto one knee, staring at me I opened the box in my hands to show her the ring. "Look, I know we've only been back together for a few months now, but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't been thinking about this since before we even went to Centium City. So, what do you say? Marry me?"

For a long moment, I wasn't sure what she was going to say or do. I wasn't all that poetic and I wasn't the best at romantic speeches or anything like that, and it wasn't like the ring was the most expensive thing out there - it was a hand-me-down from my great aunt, ancient with only a single diamond. It wasn't anything flashy, and maybe this was a mistake, maybe she'd say no, maybe-

"Yes."

"I...What?" I stared at her, and she was beaming, eyes bright with tears not yet shed.

"Yes. Yes, I'll marry you." She repeated herself, her voice shaking with joy. I lunged to my feet, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her in for a long kiss.

**2029**

"So." Dani said, staring upwards

"So." I agreed, also staring up at the rafters. Even from down here, I could see Kira lying on one of the rafter beams, clutching it for dear life.

"I think it's your turn." Dani mentioned. I looked at her.

"You sure?" I checked. She nodded.

"Yeah. I pulled Kam out of the air ducts in the med bay last week. It's your turn to wrangle the kids." She decided, turning to head back towards the kitchen. I shrugged, that was fair.

"Alright. Wish me luck." I pushed off the ground, flying upwards until I was eye level with my six-year-old daughter. "Hi sweetie."

"Hi Daddy." Kira mumbled, cheek pressed against the beam. I crossed my arms.

"Whatcha doing up here?" I asked. She and Kameron had been flying around the common area earlier

"Stuck." She replied. I frowned.

"You're stuck?" I repeated. She nodded, not moving otherwise. I sighed and flew up a little higher so I could sit on the beam beside her. I knew it was strong enough to hold us - Calla had pretty much made every aspect of this place indestructible so that what happened to Mighty Med couldn't happen here. "Sweetie?"

"Yeah Daddy?" Kira asked.

"You do remember that you can fly, right? You're not going to fall." I told her gently.

"Too high." She muttered. I sighed and shook my head.

"Come here, Kiwi." I told her, placing my hand on her back so she would feel a little more grounded. She carefully unlatched herself from the beam and crawled into my lap.

"Why'd you fly up here if you were afraid of how high it was?" I asked her.

"Nyssa dared me." She replied. I shook my head - Nyssa was always trying to get the twins in trouble. Granted, I'd been the same way at that age when it came to Dani and Oliver. Actually, this was actually something I probably would have done too if we'd had powers back then.

"You know you don't have to do what Nyssa tells you, okay?" I reminded her. She nodded, but bit her lip.

"Can we get down now?" She asked timidly. I chuckled.

"Okay. C'mere." I motioned for her to wrap her arms around my neck. One she was snug and secure, I slowly flew down to the ground with her, making sure not to go too fast as to not scare her. Not that it mattered - she kept her face buried in my shirt the entire time. "Okay, we're down." I assured her once my feet were on the ground. I gently placed her down and she raised her face to give me a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Daddy." She told me before running off to play with her friends. I chuckled to myself, wondering if she'd get over this apparent fear of heights on her own, or if Dani or I would have to get her down from another high spot the next time she went flying.

**2032**

"Watch where you're...Frank!" Rio called, sounding a little frustrated as her son chased Dallas Krane and Nyssa around the penthouse. I chuckled a little, looking around for my own kids.

Calla and Chase had invited everyone back to the penthouse for a little party, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Davenport Industries' founding. Honestly, I think it was an excuse to try and get everyone together. It had been nearly about ten years since the Elite Force has been disbanded and as much as we'd all tried to stay close, it had been a very long time since we'd had everyone together. We still didn't have everyone here - to everyone's disappoint, especially my and Dani's, Oliver and Skylar had been unable to make it due to work commitments. We'd been hoping to get the kids together for a while, seeing as the only times we got to see each other were really when work permitted it and Seraphina barely knew her cousins, but I guess somethings didn't work out.

Still, aside from their absence, it was a nice party. The adults got to catch up, while the kids got to hang out. Emily, Charlotte, Noah, and Justine were at the dinner table, playing Scrabble (they'd been playing video games originally, but had stopped after Emily apparently cheated), while James was showing Kira, Rosemary DeCook, and Scarlet how to make a house of cards. I chuckled in amusement as Scarlet kept knocking it over when he went to grab a new card, pretending to be innocent when he looked at her accusingly. Ben and Naomi were both missing from the party, but I was pretty sure they were down in Mission Control, having heard them mention something about studying for their upcoming exams. Nerds.

After a bit, I finally caught sight of Kameron sitting by the fireplace, watching Noah and the girls playing their game. "Hey bud." I greeted, kneeling down next to him. He smiled at me before looking back at the game, while grabbing a baby dill pickle off his plate. "You know, I'm sure they'll let you play with them if you ask. Justine looks like she can use a little help." Emily was completely crushing her cousin, not going easy on her despite the five-year age gap between them.

"That's okay. I don't like Scrabble." He assured me. I nodded.

"Okay, then why don't you go play with Nyssa or James?" I suggested. He shook his head, keeping his eyes locked on the game the girls and Noah were playing. "Alright, what's up?"

Kameron glanced at me, an unusually shy smile on his face. "She's pretty." He said simply. That raised my eyebrows.

"Who is?" I asked, confused. He didn't say it out loud, but his focus changed a little. I followed his gaze to see him staring solely at Charlotte, the 10-year-old smiling as she tried to help Justine come up with a word she could use. "Charlotte?"

"I'm going to marry her one day." He told me, dead serious, then frustrated when I couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I am!"

"Oh, I believe you." I told him. He nodded and continued to watch them play. "You know what might help?" I asked. He looked at me. "You could try talking to her."

He thought about it, and looked a little scared at the prospect. "I'm good."

I chuckled again. "Okay. You have fun." I told him before leaving to go find Dani. I eventually found her out on the veranda, chatting with Bree and Adam.

"The kids okay?" She asked, smiling as I took her hand.

"Perfect." I assured her, kissing her on her cheek.


	37. Chase Davenport

**2012**

"So, Mr. Davenport, what is this project you've been working on?" Adam, Bree, and I all froze in the middle of our ping-pong game, confused by the sound of another voice. Well, another voice that wasn't Mr. Davenport's. This girl walked into the lab then, an actual human girl and not a robot or hologram. We were stunned. The girl was pretty, with long brown hair. Her blue eyes swept over us as we stared at her. Who was she? How had she gotten down here?

Mr. Davenport walked up behind her, an amused smile on his face. He'd been in a better mood lately, ever since he started dating that Tasha woman. The girl turned her head slightly to speak to him, but her eyes never left us. "Uh, who are they?" she asked.

Mr. Davenport's grin grew. "Remember how I mentioned to you that bionic hero idea?" he asked her. We all stared at him. He was telling her our secret? I thought no one was supposed to know about us. That's why we weren't allowed out of the lab.

The girl nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah. You said something about them being able to do the jobs humans can't. The ones that are too dangerous or impossible without special abilities." She replied. Then she stopped as it hit her. She turned to us, eyes wide. "Wait, you already started on them? Not fair!"

She sounded so annoyed that she didn't get to work on our bionics with him. It was actually kinda funny. Mr. Davenport, however, didn't find it so amusing.

"It's totally fair. My lab, after all." He started to argue with the girl. She shrugged, her eyes lit up with amusement.

"Fine, fair enough." She agreed. She glanced at us. "But I think keeping children in your basement is kind of illegal. You are aware of that right?"

Adam, Bree and I looked at her, wondering if she was considering turning us in. I hoped not. Mr. Davenport didn't look too worried though. "Yes, I'm aware of that." He replied. She shrugged.

"Alright, cool." She replied. "But why are you telling me though?"

That question was on all of our minds. "I need you to babysit them tonight. I'm going out." He replied. We all groaned. We did NOT need a babysitter. But luckily for us, the girl didn't look too keen on the idea either.

"I'm not a babysitter." She told him seriously.

"You're still getting paid for overtime." He told her. She grinned.

"Babysitting? I LOVE babysitting!" She exclaimed. I rolled my eyes. Some people would do anything for money. "Oh yeah, so where're you going? An awards banquet? A Nobel Prize award show? A date?"

Mr. Davenport smiled. "The last one. I'm going to meet my girlfriend, Tasha Dooley, at that new restaurant tonight." He replied. He checked his watch. "And I have to get going."

"Okay, bye Mr. Davenport!" The girl called as he left the room. She turned to us and we had a long, awkward stare down. It was weird, having another person in the lab. And I could tell she didn't really know what to do either.

Eventually though, the girl broke the silence. "Just so you know, the last time I tried to babysit, I lost the kids. Hopefully, this will work out better."

We looked at her, trying to decided how serious she was. She was trying to look serious, but the grin on her face gave her away. I looked at my siblings. Both of them seemed unsure of how to proceed, so I took over. "My name's Chase." I introduced myself, holding out my hand. "This is my sister, Bree, and my brother, Adam."

"ABC, huh?" The girl joked, shaking my hand. "The name's Calla. I'm Davenport's assistant."

I offered her a smile, trying to make her feel a little welcome here. Mr. Davenport had mentioned her, of course – he'd said that he'd gotten a lab assistant my age who was pretty good at her job for a teenager. Maybe we would get along, considering how smart he'd said she was. Calla smiled back at me, blues eyes alit with excitement.

**2013**

"Give it back, Chase!" I didn't stop running until I was on the other side of the big, heavy metal doors that separated the main part of the lab and the area Mr. Davenports sometimes kept some of the bigger equipment. I barely managed to get to safety in time for the doors to close behind me, separating us.

"Good luck getting in!" I shouted, smirking a little. "That steel door is thicker than your head!" I let out a sigh of relief; I wasn't entirely sure what Adam was angry at me for this time, but he was in one of those moods where he wouldn't believe anything I said anyway. At least with him on the other side of the door, he could calm down and-

I flinched as a fist-sized dent suddenly appeared in the door. Oh, crap. I backed up a little as the doors fell, Adam standing behind them with a cocky smirk on his face. "Well, that's another way to get in." I joked weakly, moving backwards to try and put some distance between us. Unfortunately, Adam lunged forward and grabbed me before I could get away, lifting me up by the back of my shirt.

"Give me back my IPod!" He growled at me as I struggled in his grip.

"I don't have it!" I argued. Why would I take it? I had my own!

"Oh, hey." I glanced away from Adam as Bree walked up, listening to music from an IPod. And since hers was pink (she refused to let Mr. Davenport get her one like ours), and that one was white, I knew it had to be Adam's.

"You took my IPod!" Apparently, my brother came to same conclusion at the same time as me, because he dropped me to point at Bree accusingly. She didn't seem fazed, instead just giving him a judgemental look.

"Taylor Swift mega-mix? Really?" She questioned.

"I find her soothing." Adam explained, reaching for the IPod. Bree just rolled her eyes and started to walk away. I sighed, knowing what was going to happen and shook my head as Adam sent a shot of heat vision just past her shoulder. There goes my plan for reading in peace for the rest of the day.

"Oh, I know you didn't shoot that laser at me." Bree announced, turning on her heel.

"Oh, sorry. It was a terrible mistake." Adam's apologetic look turned into a smirk. "Just like your face."

Bree scowled and sped forward at Adam, plowing into him with all the rage of a teenage girl. I just barely managed to get out of the way as she knocked him into the, thankfully empty, yellow barrels behind us. One of the barrels fell over, revealing a small, dark-skinned boy hiding behind them.

He made us all freeze, absolutely bewildered by his presence. He stared back at us for a long moment before we all started screaming. Letting out one last, high-pitched scream (even Calla hadn't made that kind of sound that time Adam dropped a spider he'd found onto her laptop to see what would happen), the kid raced into the lab. We all exchanged looks, confused.

I had so many questions. Who was he? How'd he get down here? Was he an employee of Mr. Davenport's like Calla, or was he an enemy of some sort? "C'mon." I said to the others, following after the kid. We weren't going to get answers just standing around, were we?

**2014**

"Are you alright?" I asked Calla worriedly. Today had been more than crazy, and the fact that Calla had nearly died was bothering me. Well, a lot about today was bothering me (I may be a genius, but even I didn't see the Marcus or Douglas twists coming), but that was one of the bigger things. Calla was bothered by it too, if her shaking hands were anything to go by. She nodded as she sent her mom a text message.

"Hmm? Oh yeah." She clasped her hands together and offered me a reassuring smile. "Just a little adrenaline still in my system, I guess."

"What you did today…it was amazing." I commented, sitting down next to her. She shrugged.

"More like reckless." She replied modestly. I chuckled.

"You fought an android and a mad scientist wearing an exoskeleton with the worst possible weapon system in the world. That's brave." I insisted. She shrugged again, smiling a little though.

"Reckless." She sang softly. I rolled my eyes.

"I still don't know why you did it." I said, getting a little more serious. Calla frowned at me.

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"You could have gotten killed!" I exclaimed, looking at her. "And you knew that. But the second Leo told you that we were in trouble, you came to our rescue."

"Chase…" Calla said, but I continued on.

"Well, I guess it makes sense. You really hated Marcus. And revenge is most definitely one of your favorite words." I smirked.

"I didn't come to get revenge on Marcus." Calla told me, smiling gently.

"Yeah, I know. Leo called you-" Calla shook her head.

"I didn't come because he asked me either." I frowned.

"Then you really do have a death wish." I informed her. She laughed and grabbed my hand.

"Guess again." She told me, pulling me close. I frowned.

"I'm not sure what you mean…" I said slowly. She sighed audibly.

"Wow, for someone so smart, you can be so oblivious." She said. Before I knew what was going on, she was kissing me and I was kissing her back and I felt like I was in heaven.

She pulled away after a minute. I stared at her. "Whoa." I breathed, shocked.

She laughed. "Seriously Chase, I've been waiting, what? A year? Just for you to FINALLY kiss me?"

"Well, I…um…" I stuttered. She got this worried look on her face.

"Uh, you DO feel the same way, right?" I was still a little shocked to find the words. But she took my silence as rejection. "Oh. I-I'm sorry. I just thought…well, that you…I'll just go…"

I finally was able to react when she started to walk away. I grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards me and this time, I was the one kissing her.

**2017**

"They got away?" Mr. Davenport demanded, staring at us with an annoyed expression.

"Yes," I admitted from where I was sitting between Calla and Bree on the couch, "but this time, it was because we were too good of a team."

Mr. Davenport didn't look like he was too happy with that explanation, especially when Bree showed him the victory selfie we'd taken, and I didn't exactly blame him. We should have made sure Roman and Riker were secure before celebrating – it was a rookie mistake, and though Kaz, Oliver, and Dani had the excuse of being new at this, Skylar, Calla, Bree, and I had been doing this for years.

That being said, I couldn't help but be somewhat proud of what had happened today. Sure, we'd let two murders get away, and that did bother me a lot, but we had stopped them before they'd run. That meant that even though we had only just been thrown together as a team, we were capable of taking down bad guys together. Maybe this new team had a chance…

"Look, we've got to warn the rest of the superheroes and let them know they're being hunted." Kaz reminded everyone. Despite the serious tone, he seemed a little more relaxed too. Well, a lot less freaked out than he had been earlier today. Everyone seemed to be settling into this team idea a little better than when it was first introduced, now that we'd had our first actual victory.

"The good news is Roman and Riker don't even know where they are, so we should be able to alert them first." Skylar added. Dani frowned, confused.

"How? We don't even know where the survivors are, or how many." She pointed out the obvious. Skylar smiled, not seeming bothered by the obstacle.

"I know, but I have an idea about that." She replied with a shrug. I nodded.

"Good, but it's still going to take some time." I remined everyone. It was clear that Mr. Davenport agreed that this mission would be a long-term thing – otherwise he wouldn't have made us an official team like this. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

"Let's get some sleep." Calla suggested, squeezing my hand. She looked at the others, a small smirk on her face. "It sounds like we're going to need it."

Everyone seemed to agree, saying goodnight to each other before heading to our individual rooms. The second our bedroom door closed though, Calla wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me passionately on the lips.

"What was that for?" I asked after she pulled away. She shrugged, smiling a little before it faded into a thoughtful frown. "What's up?"

"Do you think this is going to work? This team?" Her tone gave away her misgivings. I frowned.

"Why wouldn't it?" True, I'd been thinking the same thing earlier, but not after our fight against Roman and Riker. "We beat them once, we can beat them again."

"It just…they destroyed  _Mighty Med_ , Chase. There were four hundred superheroes there, and they destroyed it and them. Yeah, we beat them today, but I can't shake the feeling that it was too easy, like we got lucky or something."

"It'll work." I promised her. She frowned.

"How do you know?" She questioned. I smiled.

"Because we beat them today." She opened her mouth to protest, but I shook my head. "Calla, we beat them, on a day that we certainly weren't our best. Kaz, Dani, and Oliver barely know how to use their powers, Skylar's not used to the whole team thing, and this is our first day together as a team. I hear what you're saying, and you're probably right about us getting lucky, but by time we face them again, we're going to be stronger, better, and more equipped to deal with them. Next time, it won't be luck."

Calla looked at me, trying not to smile. "Damn, you're good." She muttered. I chuckled.

"Oh, I know." I replied. She laughed at that.

"Okay," She smirked, pulling away but grabbing my hand. She started leading me towards the bed. "Let's see how good you really are."

**2017**

"This is ridiculous." Calla giggled as I led her through the lab, the blindfold tied around her eyes preventing her from guessing where we were. I grinned, chuckling a little. "Seriously, where are we going?"

"Chill, we're here." I promised her once we'd entered the main part of the lab. Thankfully, no one had touched the set up I'd prepared. I mean, everyone who would come down here knew what I was doing, so I hadn't thought they'd interrupt it – even Adam wouldn't jeopardize tonight.

"So can I take this blindfold off?" Calla wasn't exactly the patient type and I had to stop her from removing the blindfold.

"One second." I promised her. She sighed and crossed her arms as I went to grab the food.

"Seriously, what's with the theatrics?" She questioned as I returned with the plates. "Is that steak?"

I chuckled – she may not be a fantastic cook, but she certainly did have a nose for the foods she liked. "Figures the food would be the first thing you notice." I stepped away from the table once the plates were in their spots, then nodded to myself once I was sure everything was perfect. "Alright, you can take off your blindfold."

She smirked and removed it, the smile fading into an expression of shock as she looked around at the calla lily petals that surrounded her, then at the table I'd set up. "Your idea of romantic is dinner in your parents' basement?" She questioned, looking at me. I could tell though, from her smile and the lighthearted teasing in her voice that she liked it.

"Hey, don't knock this place. It's where we first met…where we first kissed…" I smirked a little. "Where we first…"

She laughed without me needing to say the rest out loud. "That was sweet. Cheesy and sweet." She told me before frowning a little. "But, seriously Chase…I love this, I really, really do, but what's the occasion?"

"This is our place." I continued, not directly answering her question. She cocked her head to the side a little, listening, but confused. "I mean, it's ours. It's where we'd sneak off to when we needed a break from the others. It's where we grew together, where we invented and destroyed, and fought and made up. It's…where we fell in love. Which is why I wanted to come here to ask you."

"Ask me?" She said slowly, staring at me. I took a deep breath – there was no going back now – and dropped down to one knee, already reaching for the ring box. Calla's eyes went wide with understanding and a hand raised to her lips. "Oh."

"Calla Alexandria Parker," I started, showing her the ring. She was staring at me, speechless, "you are the brilliant, beautiful woman that I want to spend the rest of my life with. Will you marry me?"

Calla didn't even hesitate, nodding before I'd even finished the question. I grinned as she said the word "yes" over and over before dropping to her knees in front of me. I kissed her deeply, absolutely ecstatic that I would be able to do this for the rest of our lives together.

**2020**

"Honey, I'm home." I called, walking into the penthouse. Calla was sitting on the couch, working on her laptop. "Hey, so what did Horace need from you this morning?"

"Oh, you know, he just wanted me to run some tests at Mighty Med 2.0." She replied absently, typing away. "Hey, Chase, since you're up, do you think you can get me a coffee? Please?"

"Actually, I was going to go shower." I replied. She craned her head to look at me.

"Please?" She requested. I looked at her, a little amused by her apparent laziness.

"You can get it yourself." I pointed out.

"Please?" She repeated herself. I sighed.

"Calla…" I began, only for her to let out a frustrated noise.

"Chase, would you  _please_  go get me a freaking coffee?" She insisted. I sighed.

"Fine." Somedays, it was better not to argue with her. I dropped my bag on the floor and walked into the kitchen. I pulled the container of coffee beans – hazel nut roast, her favorite – out of the cupboard only to find that it was surprisingly lighter than it should have been. "We're out."

Calla sat up, a confused look on her face. "What? Are you sure?"

I shook the coffee container, only to hear some clattering inside. "There's something in here."

I pulled the lid off of the container and turned it upside down. A plastic stick fell out and into the palm of my hand. It lay face up, and I stared in utter shock at the strip that ran across the stick, or rather, at the two lines on the strip, recognizing what it was and what it meant immediately, but the reality of the information not properly computing with me. "Uh, Calla?"

"Yeah?" There was something in her tone, a little nervous and excited at the same time. I turned to see her sitting on the back of the couch, looking at me with nervous anticipation.

"You…are you…you're…" I stammered. She smiled widely.

"I'm pregnant." She confirmed, biting her lip in excitement.

**2021**

It was the sound of crying that woke me from my slumber. I startled, instantly awake, the fighting from earlier today keeping me on my toes even now. I relaxed a little when I realized where I was and who was crying.

"Oh, Emily." I sighed, getting up and walking over to my daughter's crib, which was sitting just a few feet away from Calla's bed. Thankfully, my wife was still asleep, having passed out before Bree and the others had left, despite her best efforts to stay up and strategize on how to defeat S.H.I.R.T. I was glad that she was getting some rest – as tired as we all were from today, none of us had had to give birth to another human being. She deserved it.

"Honey, shh…it's okay." I carefully lifted her not my arms, all too aware of how small and fragile she was. She quieted down a little, her loud cries turning to soft whimpers. "C'mon princess, it's okay. Shh…let's try not to wake Mommy, alright?"

"Too late." Calla murmured. I looked over my shoulder to see her sitting up slightly in her hospital bed. "She hungry?"

"Nah, I think she just wanted some attention." I assured her, sitting down on the edge of the bed so that Calla could see her. Calla smiled when she saw Emily's face, her bright blue eyes staring at back at us.

"Hi." She cooed to our daughter. I smiled, then looked at Calla.

"Sorry to wake you. You should go back to sleep." I encouraged. She shook her head.

"I'm okay." She insisted. She looked around, then grinned a little sheepishly. "I'm guessing Bree, Jay, Dani, Kieran, and Taylor left?"

"A few hours ago. Kaz, Oliver, and Skylar dropped by too, but you were asleep." I replied. "Oh, and Tasha called to check in."

"I'll call her back in the morning. My folks too." Calla bit back a yawn before smiling back at Emily. "What are we going to do about S.H.I.R.T.?"

"You don't have to worry about that." I told her. She looked like she was about to protest, so I stopped her. "Calla, sleep. There's nothing we can right now. Kieran, Taylor, Liam, and Lily need some time to recover, and I suspect Rani does as well. We're not going to go and fight them when half our team isn't up for it."

"Right." Calla nodded, blinking tiredly at Emily, who'd stopped crying to go back to sleep in the middle of our conversation. I smiled a little and kissed Calla's forehead.

"Sleep." I murmured, my lips ghosting over her forehead. "We'll be here when you wake up."

"Okay." She agreed reluctantly. She craned her neck in order to press her lips to Emily's head. "Good night, sweetheart."

She kissed me once before lying back down. She fell asleep pretty quickly, one hand still resting on my knee and her face still directed towards me and Emily. I smiled and gently rubbed her back with one hand, the other carefully holding our newborn to my chest.

**2021**

I frowned to myself, looking around the penthouse, feeling that something was wrong. I knew where that feeling was coming from - it was too quiet, the entire penthouse almost deadly silent.

Calla was quietly reading on the couch, a cup of coffee in her hand, having put Emily down for a nap twenty minutes ago, and AJ was still at school. Oliver and Skylar had left for Caldera last night, and everyone else had gone their separate ways ages ago. Aside from us, the penthouse was completely empty, and I had to admit, I didn't like it all too much.

"Freaky, right?" Calla commented, startling me out of my thoughts. I turned to see her still reading her book, a small smile on her face.

"The Arcturion didn't give you mind reading abilities, did it?" I questioned, though I wasn't serious - Calla had always had this way of figuring out what was in someone's head. She smirked a little.

"No, but haven't you heard the saying 'Silence speaks volumes'?" She teased back. She looked up at me. "And I miss them too."

I sighed and leaned back in the chair. "It's weird." I commented. She hummed in agreement, turning back to her book. "I don't think I've ever lived in a place with less than three other people before."

"Technically, that's how many you're living with now." Calla commented.

"It's not exactly like Emily can carry a conversation yet, babe." I reminded her. She smirked.

"I'm 90% sure one of us could build a baby translator if we try." She commented. She paused, then closed her book. "Oh my God, why haven't we been working on this?"

"I'm serious." I told her. She nodded.

"So am I. It would make this all so much easier." She commented, sitting up. I gave her a look and she cleared her throat. "Sorry. Just a little tired of playing the 'why is the baby crying this time' game at 3 AM."

"It's just a little weird, not seeing everyone everyday." I mentioned. She crossed her legs, getting a little more comfortable in her position.

"Yeah, I guess. But we'll see them again. Oliver and Skylar are going to call a lot, check in whenever they can. You know Bree and Jaden want to see their niece as much as we want to see our nephew. And do you really think that it's going to take Dani and Kaz long to come running when they need our help? For god's sake, Kaz called me yesterday to ask me how to set up a Netflix account."

I chuckled. Maybe she did have a point. "Trust me, the Elite Force may have been disbanded, but this is hardly the last time this Penthouse is going to be overrun with visitors. Our friends will be back, they always come back. And in the meantime..."

As if on cue, Emily starting wailing, her cries easily heard through the baby monitor on the coffee table. "In the meantime, you can change your daughter's diaper." Calla finished. I gave her a look.

"Didn't I do it last time?" I asked. She pouted and lifted her book into her lap.

"Yes, but I'm comfy." She insisted. I gave her a look. "Please? I'm on the last chapter."

"Fine, but you get the next two times." I told her. She grinned.

"Deal." She agreed, leaning up to kiss me before I headed for the stairs to check on Emily.

**2032**

"Dad?" I looked up from my work to see Emily standing in the hyperlift entrance to Mission Command, her tablet in one hand and a frown on her face.

"Hey sweetie. Dinner ready?" I inquired. She shook her head.

"Not yet. Something's wrong with my tablet." She told me, holding up the device. "And I need you to fix it because I need to finish my homework."

"You couldn't fix it yourself?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the eleven-year-old. She scowled and shook her head.

"No." She seemed really upset by that. "I can't figure out why it's not working right."

"Let me see." I frowned and patted the chair next to me. She ran up and climbed into the seat before handing me the tablet. "Alright, how do you know that something's wrong?"

"Well, I was doing my homework, but it keeps telling me that my answers are wrong when they're right. See?" She pointed at a few of her questions where red Xs had appeared next to her answers.

"Well, maybe they are wrong." I told her. She rolled her eyes.

"No, they're right." She said confidently. I looked over the work and gave her a small smile.

"Actually, sweetie, they're not." I told her gently. She frowned and sat up to look back at her work. "You were close, though. You just made one tiny mistake."

"No, I didn't." She insisted. I nodded and she shook her head. "No, I didn't. Show me."

"Right here, honey." I pointed to the third question, which looked like the easiest to explain this to her. She gave me a look.

"Dad," She said slowly, "That answer is right."

"No, it's not." I said gently. She frowned.

"1 x 10 + 2 x 6 does equal 72, Dad." She told me. I gave her a look. "What?"

"I think you're forgetting something, sweetie." I told her. She frowned. "Did you do BEDMAS?"

She frowned and looked back at the tablet before her mouth opened into a wide O. "Oh. Right, I'm supposed to multiply before I add...22?" She checked. I nodded.

"Good job." I told her. She smiled. "Okay, now you just have to remember to do that for these three, and you're all set."

"Okay. Thanks, Dad." Emily smiled at me before grabbing her tablet and heading back upstairs. I watched her go before turning back to my own work.

**2038**

"I have brought food!" Calla announced dramatically, entering the penthouse with a take-out bag under one arm and her bag on the other. I looked up from my tablet, smiling, before I noticed that she was alone.

"Cool. Have you brought our kid?" I asked. She snapped her fingers.

"I knew I was forgetting something." She said before chuckling. "Charlotte invited her and Ava over to her place for a sleepover. I just dropped the girls off, so it's just you, me, and Naomi for tonight."

"Just you and I, actually. There's a charity fundraiser for the police department and she's covering it for one of her classes." I explained.

"The Vetrans' fundraiser?" Calla blinked, then shrugged. "Damn, I wish she'd told me. I would have had her bring Davenport Industries' annual donation instead of sending AJ. He hates those things. When'd she leave?"

"She was gone by time I got home." I chuckled. "You know, you'd almost think that she didn't live here, the way she's always coming and going."

Calla shrugged and placed the take out bag on the counter. "So, do you want to split her food, or just put it in the fridge in case she's hungry when she gets back?"

"Fridge. Hey, I actually want to talk to you about something." I got up to go sit at the counter while she moved about the kitchen.

"What's up?" She tossed over her shoulder before turning to grab a couple of plates from the cupboard.

"Well, I was talking with Dave today, and we were talking about Senator Ashwin's little...spectacle."

"Is that what we're calling that?" Calla asked, a bit of a laugh in her voice. "God, I can't believe that idiot got elected."

"Yeah, well, odds are pretty slim that he's going to get re-elected." I mentioned nonchalantly. Calla placed the plates down next to the sink and turned to face me.

"You want to run again." She realized. I nodded, and her gaze softened. "You lost last time."

"I'm aware of that, thanks Cal." I looked at her. She sighed and leaned against the counter, taking my hands in hers.

"I just remember how upset you were, is all." She reassured me. "You might not win this time."

"I know, but I want to try again. I only lost by a couple of hundred votes last time - I've got a shot to make it." I reasoned. She licked her lips. "Look, I know I lost last time, and the time before that we were busy with Emily, but she's older now, and I think I'd be a good fit..." I hesitated. "What do you think?"

A slow smile made its way onto Calla's face. "I think you're right." She said simply. I grinned. "When's the election?"

"Next November." I replied. She nodded thoughtfully. "That's 20 months away. Plenty of time to figure everything out."

"Okay. Yeah." She nodded and then beamed at me. "You're going to be a Senator, Chase."

I grinned back at her. "It's not that far off from being president."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not wrong!" I called as she turned back to preparing our dinner.


	38. Dani "Short Circuit" Short

**2015**

I wandered away from Kaz, Wallace, and Clyde's conversation, a little bored at hearing about the two times that Kaz had taken a whiz in the Cauldron of Krepulan (in his defense, the first time was a dare and the second was because Wallace and Clyde wouldn't let us use their restroom).

"Hey Jordan." I greeted one of our other friends, noticing that she was playing one of the new video game machines that Wallace and Clyde had just purchased.

"Shh. I'm trailing this majestic unicorn." She whispered to me, not looking away from the pretty-looking unicorn on the screen. "It's the last one in the entire land."

"Sounds lame." I commented, about to walk away when suddenly Jordan shouted.

"Boom!" She cried, grinning as her character took off the unicorn's head with an axe. "Cut off its head!"

"Okay, now I'm interested." I declared, grinning. "Aw, look! Its blood is made of rainbows."

Kaz chuckled and walked up behind us. "Look, Jordan, we have to talk to you about our robot project for science day tomorrow." He started. I frowned, knowing that she wouldn't like what he had to say all that much.

"Yeah, the four of us are working on, right?" Jordan confirmed. I glanced at the boys, wondering who was going to break the news.

"Yep, it will be just the four of us." Ollie confirmed. "You, me, Kaz, and Dani...and Gus."

Jordan stopped mid-game and stared at us. "What? Gus? No, no, no! Absolutely not!"

"We're sorry, but he is our friend." Ollie insisted.

"Besides, we kinda felt bad for him because no one else wanted him in their group." I chimed in. Jordan nodded.

"Yeah, for the same reason no one wants a dead fish in their bed; they both smell like dead fish!" She pointed out. I shrugged.

"We'll make him wear an air freshener?" I suggested. Jordan sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Look, if I don't get an A on this project, my parents won't let me play video games for a year." She reminded us. "An if I can't chop off unicorn heads then who am I?"

"We promise you, we'll keep Gus under control. He won't say a word." Ollie swore. Kaz and I both looked at him, wondering how he planned to accomplish THAT.

"Really, where are we going to get a muzzle?" Kaz asked. Jordan sighed.

"Fine, just keep him away from me." She agreed reluctantly. I had to stop myself from throwing my hands up in defeat.

"Now we have to get a leash?" I complained.

"This is becoming a nightmare!" Kaz agreed. Ollie ignored both of us.

"We'll take care of it." He promised Jordan. She nodded and walked over to her game again. I sighed, wondering where we were going to get a human-sized muzzle, when I noticed that Wallace and Clyde had gotten new cardboard cutouts along with the new video games.

"Oh, Ollie!" I sang, delighted to see a specific hero amongst the cutout. I walked past my brother and best friend before pulling one cardboard cutout to the front. "Look who it is!"

Ollie gasped, eyes going wide with excitement. "It's Skylar Storm!" He exclaimed, running over to us. "She's my favorite comic book superhero! She has twenty-four superpowers, including x-ray vision, so she can see how big my heart is."

Kaz and I exchanged amused smirks - while I admittedly had a crush on Tecton, and Kaz had always said his fantasy girlfriend heavily resembled Solar Flare, neither of those crushes got anywhere close to Ollie's obsession with Skylar Storm. Kaz reached over and grabbed the cardboard cutout out of my hands, moving it around slightly.

"Oh, Oliver! Come here and kiss me," Kaz teased in a high-pitched voice, "but be careful because you know I'm made of cardboard."

"Kaz, Kaz, stop!" Ollie exclaimed, pushing it away. "You heard Wallace and Clyde; no touching the merchandise."

"Oh, it's fine." Kaz insisted as he handed me the cardboard cutout. I nodded.

"What's the worst that can happen?" I questioned, placing the cutout on the ground next to me. It tipped over - I must not have stood it up right - and hit the nearby toy gun, which shot a dart into the air. The dart hit a large UFO that was hanging from the ceiling and it broke in two, the top half remaining tied to the ceiling, while the bottom half fell onto Kaz and Ollie, trapping them together. I stared at them for a moment, surprised, before sheepishly adding, "Aside from that, I mean."

**2016**

I was in the middle of telling Solar Flare and Hummingbird about Solar Flare's new video game, knowing that they enjoyed hearing about any new merchandise of theirs and how Normos were reacting to it, when I heard Kaz calling my name.

"Kaz!" I greeted with a grin. He reached for my hand, a wide smile on his face.

"C'mon." He encouraged. I smiled at him, a little confused, but placed my cup down and took his hand.

"Where are we going?" I laughed as he dragged me into the hallway. He didn't answer verbally, but he didn't need to - without the slightest hint of hesitation or reservations, he pushed me up against the wall, leaning in to kiss me.

Instinctively, I kissed him back, using one of my hands to pull him more into the kiss.

A part of me wondered if this was all a dream. It had been one of those days where it wouldn't be totally crazy to think that, and never had I ever imagined that Kaz would ever actually kiss me, let alone that it would be this incredible.

Eventually, we both had to pull away, and I found myself breathless. Kaz was looking down at me, a bit of uncertainty in his eyes. I couldn't help but laugh softly, the smile on my face seeming to be a permanent effect of what we'd just done. "Wow." I murmured, turning my face up to his. Our noses brushed up against each others. "You certainly took your time."

He smiled then, really wide, and I pulled him in for another kiss.

**2016**

I clasped my hands together, sitting on the edge of the toilet, forcing myself to take slow, deep breaths. I'd been doing everything I could all day not to freak out about what was going on, and the craziness from earlier had helped distract myself, but now that it was quiet, I couldn't seem to get out of my head.

Mom was evil. Mom was a freaking super villain. Mom was the freaking super villain who'd been trying to kill Ollie these past few months.

Those three thoughts kept swirling around my head on an infinite loop that I couldn't seem to stop. I just couldn't believe this was actually happening. I mean, Mom and I had our issues, sure. We had plenty of issues, and I'd often told people that she was secretly evil, but I'd always meant it in the way that she was cold and strict, not an actual criminal mastermind.

What was going to happen now? To me and Ollie? It wasn't like we had family in the area, and I didn't even know my Dad's number anymore. Where were we supposed to go? What were we going to do?

I flinched as a sudden knock on the bathroom stall door startled me out of my thoughts. I swallowed thickly as someone knocked again. "Occupied." I grumbled.

"Dee?" I sighed, closing my eyes at the sound of Kaz's voice. "You okay?"

"Peachy." I replied. He paused for a moment before answering.

"Are you sure? You've been in there a while." He observed. I took a deep breath, then nodded to myself and got up. I opened the stall door to see him standing there with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm fine." I said before he could say anything.

"Dee," he sighed as I pushed past him to check myself in the mirror. I looked like a mess, with my eyes too wide and my bottom lip swollen from my nervous habit of biting on it. No wonder he didn't believe me. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I leaned my elbows on the counter, blinking back tears. I sucked in a breath and looked at him, clasping my hands together again. "Shit." I managed. He nodded in understanding. "I mean...shit, Kaz."

"Yeah." He agreed, despite my inability to use actual words to get what I was saying across. I turned around and leaned my back against the counter, pressing my hands against the counter to try and stop their shaking.

"I think I'm freaking out a little bit." I admitted breathlessly. He didn't say anything, but placed one of his hands over mine, squeezing it gently.

"You want me to go get Oliver?" He offered. I shook my head. "You sure?"

"I don't want him to..." I shook my head, trying to remember how to speak. I gave Kaz a look. "Ollie takes care of everyone before himself, Kaz. If he sees me freaking out, he'll push down his own panic and try to play the big brother, and it's not healthy if he bottles all of this up."

"That's fair, but you can't bottle all of it up either." He reminded me. I nodded.

"I won't. I just..." I promised. "Not in front of him, alright?"

"Alright." He agreed, squeezing my hand again. I took a deep breath to steady myself, then flashed Kaz a smile.

"I'm good." I told him. He paused, and I rolled my eyes. "I am. I'll be out in a minute, okay?"

"Okay." He agreed. He kissed me on the forehead before heading out of the bathroom. I turned back to the mirror, and forced myself to try and look a lot calmer than I felt. I splashed some water onto my face, then nodded at my reflection. I could do this. I got this.

Taking one last deep breath, I walked out of the bathroom, head high. Kaz was waiting for me at the ER desk, so, to show him that I really had my shit together for the time being, I purposefully stopped, took my heels off one by one, and tossed them into the garbage can to my left. That got a couple of confused looks by some of the other staff members, but Kaz merely chuckled and offered me his hand. I grinned back, taking it and leading him over to Alivia's hospital bed.

**2016**

"So, how are things?" Alivia asked, slowly lowering herself onto the couch in the rec room. She placed the crutches next to her as she stretched her leg out. "And I mean it, Dani. The truth, no BS."

I sighed. "We're okay."

"Did I not just ask for the truth?" Alivia questioned.

"It is the truth." I insisted, taking a seat. "Do things suck right now? Yeah, they do, a lot. And does it hurt? Yeah. But Ollie and I, we aren't going to just break. We've got you, and Kaz, and Skylar, and everyone else to make sure we don't. Nothing's particularly great with us right now, but we are okay. And you guys need to realize that."

"Okay. I just had to be sure that you were okay, mentally, before…" She sighed, then looked me in the eye. "Dani, I've got a favor to ask of you."

"Anything, just name it." I replied. She hesitated.

"Don't agree so quickly." She advised. "Because you're not going to like what I'm going to propose, but I need you to do it for me."

I frowned. Damn, she was serious. "What's going on, Liv?"

Alivia sighed. "The League of Heroes is...they're concerned about how powerful Mr. Terror is. They don't think that going at her head on would be in their best interest."

I nodded. "No, duh." I replied. Didn't she see how powerful Mom was at the wedding? "She's crazy powerful right now." And crazy-crazy right now too. "Do they have another strategy?"

"They do." Alivia looked at me, her face serious. "You."

I frowned, not following. "Me?" I questioned. She nodded, but didn't elaborate. "Me what?"

"They think that the best way to take her down is from the inside. Systematically destroy her followers from the inside, then use information gathered to devise a stronger strategy." She explained slowly. I nodded to show her I was listening. The idea made sense. "They want you to be their inside man. Well, inside woman."

That's where I got confused. "Me? Why me?" I questioned.

"Because you're her daughter; she trusts you. And you're a pretty good liar, and you've got what it takes to pull it off." I stared at her as Alivia explained the League's reasoning. It wasn't like Mom and I had the best relationship, and I'd just gotten my powers, like, a month ago. I was hardly the best choice, but that wasn't the only problem I had with this.

I wanted to stop my Mom, I did. Saving people was important to me even before I'd gotten these powers. But she was still my Mom, and what Alivia was suggesting wasn't just stopping her. It was using her, manipulating her. It would mean acting like her in order to stop her, and I wasn't going to sink to that level.

"No." I murmured. Alivia nodded.

"Yes, you do. Dani, between your powers and your manipulative-" I shook my head, stopping her.

"I mean, no, I won't do it." I insisted. Alivia sighed, looking disappointed, but not all that surprised.

"Dani..." She started, but I wasn't going to listen to it.

"No." I insisted. "Putting her behind bars is one thing, but playing her, pretending to be something I'm not just so I can stab her in the back? No. I won't do it. Find someone else."

"There is no one else." Alivia argued. I shook my head.

"Ollie-" I started to suggest.

"Oliver can't do this, not the way you can." She told me, looking at me with this desperate, pleading look. I realized then that it wasn't just the League's idea that Alivia was being forced to suggest - she agreed with them. She thought I should do this. "He's more emotional than you, more of a risk. You're better at keeping a lid on it. You're the one who will do anything to make sure what we need to happen comes to pass. And let's face it: Oliver's a crap liar."

"I won't go behind her back. If I fight my mother, I do it on an even playing field. I'm not the kind of manipulative, sneaky person you're looking for." I told her.

"But you are." Alivia insisted. I stared at her, a little shocked. Alivia was supposed to be my best friend, and yet that's what she thought of me? Ollie and Kaz would never talk to each other like that. "Or you can be. It's true, Dani. We both know that when you want to be, when you  _need_  to be, you can be as cold as ice. And we need that."

"Wow, thanks, pal." I snapped. Alivia sighed, sounding annoyed with me.

"Look, I know you don't like this. And I admit, lying to her and the others is going to be difficult, but we need you to take one for the team." She insisted. I looked at her.

"The others? Like Kaz and Ollie?" So, I wasn't only supposed to manipulate my mother, but I was also supposed to lie to my twin brother, one of my other best friends, and my boyfriend?

"Like I said, Oliver's a crap liar. The only way this is going to work is if no one knows." Alivia explained with forced calmness in her tone. "That way, they can't accidentally give you up, and when you join Bridget, she won't think that you're still connected to them; she won't be able to use them against you in case she finds out."

"So, I'd have to lie to everyone I care about. Yeah, no. Not going to happen." I stood up then, done with this conversation. "I can't believe you'd ask me to do this, Liv."

"You can't?" Alivia was clearly unhappy with my decision. "Look, I figured you would say no, but you really can't see it? Dani, your mother is a monster, a murderer." She didn't stop even though I know she saw my reaction to the accusation. "I'm sorry, but it's true. And she's going to keep on hurting people unless we stop her. I actually don't understand how you can choose not to help, knowing that your refusal pretty much guarantees her freedom!"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?" I accused. I could tell that Alivia was under pressure here, and I knew how serious the situation was, but I just couldn't get on board with this, or anything she was saying. She was being unfair, and she knew it. "Look, my mother has got her problems, I'm not denying that. And does she deserve to be behind bars? Yes. But everything she did was for us, so she is not a monster. And don't you dare act all high and mighty when you're asking, no, demanding, that I do something that goes against everything I believe in. Oliver and Kaz are the two most important people in my life, and I won't lie or betray them. Not while there's still a League full of heroes that can deal with my mother. And that's final."

I started to storm out, with Alivia making one last attempt to have the last word. "Don't be a coward, Dani!"

"Screw you, Geminus." I growled before slamming the door behind me.

**2018**

"Stop. Mom, stop." I listened as Ollie plead with our mother. "We can't join you, but we don't want to fight you either. So, put down the Arcturion and let me take you to UPSEI, alright?"

"I can't do that, honey. I have to do this." Mom insisted, giving my brother a smile. "You'll understand one day."

"No, won't." Ollie insisted. "Now put down the Arcturion, or we'll have to make you put it down."

To prove his point, he created a ball of ice in his hands. I bit back a sigh, wishing my brother hadn't gotten involved in this. If it had just been Mom and I now, it would have been so much easier to just go ahead with my plan. "Fine." Ollie sighed when Mom didn't back down. "I'm sorry, Mom, but you gave us no choice."

He crushed the ice ball and looked as if he were about to attack with her with the shards, but I stepped in before he could. I raised my hand, sending a bolt of lightning at his feet. He stumbled backwards, surprised, as I put myself between him and our mother. "Dani?" He questioned, confused.

I gave him an apologetic smile, hoping that he would understand one day. "I can't let you do that, Ollie." I told him, keeping my hands up to fend off an attack I knew he would never send. Or maybe he would.

"Dani, what are you doing?" He was looking at me the same way he had looked at Mom the day we discovered that she was Mr. Terror. I hated that I'd been the one to put that look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Ollie, but I have to do what I think is right." I told him. He started towards me, one hand raised, but I sent another blast at the ground. "Don't...please don't."

"Or what, you'll attack me?" The awful mix of horror and defeat turned to anger then. I forced myself to nod, knowing that I had to sell this to him as much as I did to Mom if I was going to make this believable.

"If I have to." I didn't want to, didn't even know if I could attack him. He stared at me.

"I don't know you you are anymore." I couldn't help but flinch at his words. Before I could even think of a response (what was I supposed to say to that?), Sebastian appeared out of thin air.

"If we're going to bail, we need to do it now." He told Mom. She nodded, then picked up the Arcturion. She placed her hand on Sebastian's shoulder, then looked at me expectantly.

"Dani, don't!" My brother shouted. I looked at him one last time, hoping he could at least see how sorry I was, before grabbing Sebastian's arm.

Moments later, we were standing in the middle of a stylish, modern-looking living room in what looked like an underground cave.

"Well done, Sebastian." Mom nodded before turning to me. She cupped my cheek in one hand, smiling proudly at me. "You made the right choice, sweetheart."

I could only hope that those words were true.

**2019**

I raced through the warehouse, the sound of footsteps behind me spurring me on. I couldn't stop, couldn't wait, despite the voice shouting after me. It wasn't until a wall of fire formed in front of me that I skidded to a stop. I bounced on my feet, about to fly over it, when the voice I'd been dreading hearing called out to me. "Stop. Dani, just stop."

I sucked in a breath, hearing the emotional and physical exhaustion in his voice. Already regretting this, I slowly turned to face Kaz, feeling jittery and nervous.

Kaz stared at me for a moment and I took in his appearance. He looked tired and frustrated, not that I blamed him, but otherwise good. It hit me just how much I'd missed those big brown eyes of his, and his smile, and the sound of his voice. Even now, the sound of my name coming from his lips made my heart flutter in ways I wish it didn't. This would be so much easier if it didn't.

"You stopped dyeing your hair." He observed, catching me off guard. I had expected demands or screaming, not a random comment.

"Mom didn't like the color I had it." I replied before I could stop myself. I looked around, wondering how close the others were.

"Since when do you care what your mother wants?" He questioned. I had no answer for him. "Dani, c'mon. Just come back. Come home."

I bit my lip, forcing my eyes to stay dry. "Can't do that. Sorry." I said shortly, knowing that anything more would give away the quivering in my voice.

"Why not?" He demanded.

"It's complicated." If only I could explain it to him.

"Not really." He argued with me. "All you have to do is come with me."

"Look, I have to do what I think is right." I told him, shaking my head and praying that somehow he would understand. "And you need to stop trying to find me. I know you've been looking. Stop it."

"Well, that's something I can't do." He insisted.

"Why can't you just let me go?" It would be better if he did. This was killing me, and I could tell that it was hurting him.

"You really don't know?" He asked, his voice soft. I frowned, not understanding where this gentleness had come from. "Because damn it, Dani, I'm in love with you."

I turned around quickly, before he could see the tears that were starting to fall. No! Damn it, Kaz. No. He didn't love me. He couldn't, not after all this. Not after everything I'd done. How could he?

But the truth was, that was exactly how I felt about him. I loved him so bad my heart burned for hurting him. All I wanted to do was to tell Alivia and her plan to go screw themselves so that I could run into his arms. So I could try and fix the un-fixable. So I could tell him how I really felt.

But that was impossible. And I needed him to stop all of this before it shattered my heart, because I didn't think I could keep going if he kept talking. "Well, I..." I hesitated before continuing. There was only one way to keep him from coming after me, and I hated myself for it before I'd even said the words. "I don't love you."

The silence that stretched between us after that was too much to bear. "Goodbye Kaz." I murmured before flying into the air, fighting not to sob as I soared away from everything I'd wanted.

**2020**

I skimmed through the inventory list on my phone, listlessly using my spoon to push the oatmeal around in my bowl. There hadn't been much in the kitchen that I'd liked, but something was better than nothing. At least they had lemonade here.

I was more interested in the list of supplies though, frowning at how badly stocked the med bay seemed to be. No wonder Alivia was looking for a medic - their med bay was hardly more equipped than a first aid kit, and almost no one on this team had any medical experience (Alan being the only exception, and well, he was  _Alan_ ).

I was in the middle of writing a checklist of things I would need Alivia or someone to pick up for the med bay, when a shadow stopped over my table. I didn't look up, didn't need to to know who was standing there.

"I'm here. Get over it." I said as I wrote down another item on the list.

"Someone's in a cranky mood." Rani observed, sitting down across from me. I sighed and dropped my pencil before looking at my old nemesis.

"What's up?" I questioned. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"I lived here first, I can sit where I want." She told me.

"You don't like me being here." It was hardly a secret that we didn't like each other. She shrugged.

"I can think of worse things. I just wanted to make sure we didn't have a problem. I thought maybe we can be friends." She replied. I raised my chin, a little surprised. Rani Shore wasn't exactly the friendliest person on this planet.

"Really?" I questioned. She rolled her eyes. "Alivia put you up to this, didn't she?"

"No." She replied, sounding offended. I raised my eyebrows at that. "Lily may have pointed out that fighting isn't 'good for team morale' and that things, such as my chocolate covered graham crackers, might go missing if that were to happen."

Ah, that made a little more sense. "Wait, we have chocolate covered graham crackers?" I questioned. She stared at me.

" _I_ have chocolate covered graham crackers, and if you take any of them, I will turn you into a double A battery." She told me, a falsely sweet smile on her face. I stared at her, trying to gauge how serious she was. She offered me her hand. "Truce?"

"Truce." I agreed, shaking her hand. I frowned at her. "Could you really turn me into a battery?"

She smirked. "Don't touch my food, and you won't have to find out."

With that, she got up and walked away, just as Barry started to walk over. He watched her go, then looked at me. "Hey, I didn't know you were here."

"I am. I'll be right back." I pushed myself up from the table. He frowned at me as he sat where Rani had been.

"Where are you going?" He inquired. I smirked.

"I'm having this craving for chocolate covered graham crackers." I replied. He glanced back in Rani's direction before shaking his head.

"You're playing with fire." He warned. I shrugged.

"A girl's gotta have some fun sometimes." I replied before heading towards the pantry.

**2021**

I wasn't all that surprised when Kaz pulled me off to the side of the restaurant before we could go in and talk to some of the staff. This was the first moment we'd had alone since Jazz had called, and I knew he wanted to talk about what had happened.

"So..." He gave me a wide smile. "Tonight was fun. You know, aside from Liam, but that's...I mean..."

I chuckled a little at that. "I think you mean last night - it's nearly three in the morning now. And yeah, it was fun."

Kaz looked at me closely. "So...? What does this mean for us?"

"As in, are we back together?" I asked. I laughed nervously, running my hand through my hair. "Honestly, I hadn't thought that far ahead yet. That was just..."

"Impulsive? Spur of the moment?" Kaz offered. I nodded, and he smiled. "Yeah, that sounds like us."

"Do you even want to get back together?" I asked. Kaz frowned.

"Don't you?" He asked, his tone soft and uncertain.

"Of course I do." I grabbed his hand, looking at him sincerely. "God, breaking us up, that was the worst thing I've ever done. But you just broke up with Jessica, and I wasn't sure if you were looking for a relationship."

"What did you think last night was, a post-break up hook-up?" He asked rhetorically. When I didn't answer, he gave me a smile. "Dani, I never got over you. When you were gone, it was easy to pretend, but ever since you've been back, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"I know the feeling." I bit my lip, blushing a little. I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't been thinking about him non-stop, since even before Liam and Lily had gone missing. "So, we get back together?"

"I'm game." He agreed, leaning forward to kiss me. I let his lips brush against mine briefly before pulling back.

"We'll have plenty of time for that after we find the others." I reminded him. He rolled his eyes.

"Alright," he agreed, semi-reluctantly. "But as soon as they're back, I'm gonna rock your world."

"You better." I teased lightly. He grinned and led the way into the restaurant so we could get the information we needed. I smiled, following him in.

There were a lot of complications with this. I was still with the New League of Heroes, and as much as I loved Kaz, as well as Ollie and the others, I'd found something special there, and I wasn't sure I wanted to give that up. I'd be leaving soon, and God knows if we could actually handle long distance on top of our already crazy lives. But right now, right in this moment, this felt right. And that's all I cared about.

**2022**

I think Kaz and I spent a full three minutes staring at Horace after he delivered the news.

"Twins?" I repeated. He nodded. "As in two babies?"

"I would hope that you, a twin yourself, would know what twins means, Dani." He told me, amused by my reaction. I blinked at his words, then looked at Kaz.

"I...uh...I mean, twins do run in the family." He said simply, looking about as shocked as I did. "It's genetic, right?"

"Fraternal twins do." Horace confirmed. He glanced back at the ultrasound. "It's a little early to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if you get fraternal twins. Probably a boy and a girl."

"Probably." I murmured. Kaz glanced at me, then at Horace.

"Do you mind, uh..." He trailed off. Horace chuckled.

"Of course." He patted Kaz's shoulder. "Congratulations again."

Once he'd left, Kaz turned to me. "Twins?" I hissed at him.

"I know." He agreed. He paused. "My mom is going to love this."

"Forget her." As much as I liked Kristen, she wasn't the subject of this. "We can't have twins."

"Uh, I don't think we get a choice in that." Kaz pointed out. I gave him a look.

"Kaz, I'm still not totally convinced we're capable of raising one child, let alone two." I reminded him. "We bought things for one baby. We have one extra bedroom. We can only afford one baby. We can't have twins."

"I know, okay? I know." He told me, tone soothing. "We'll figure it out."

"How?" I questioned. He shrugged. "Kaz!"

"My parents raised eleven children, Dani. They were just out of high school when my mom got pregnant with Kenny." He reminded me. "They figured it out."

I stared at him for a long moment. "Isn't Kenny in jail for grand larceny?"

"He's getting out in a couple of months." Kaz reasoned. I sighed and dropped my head onto the table.

"I...I suppose we can turn the garage into a second bedroom when they're too old to share a bedroom. It's not like either of us have cars." I said thoughtfully.

"And I'm sure that we can get some second-hand stuff from my mom or some of our friends." Kaz gently rubbed my shoulder. "We've got this."

I sighed. "I hope you're right." I told him. He grinned.

"So, about baby names..." He began.

"We are not naming either of our children 'Hot Dog'." I said firmly, much to his disappointment.

**2038**

"Ha!" Kira laughed triumphantly as her car managed to get ahead of Kameron and Kaz's in the video game they were playing. She slid right into first place, and used one of her weapons to knock Kameron off the track. I smiled as I pour the bag of popcorn into my bowl, having taken the round off to make snacks.

"Dude, c'mon!" Kameron protested as his car had to reformed. "That's cheating."

"No, it's not." Kira wrinkled her nose at his response. She stuck her tongue out at him. "Girls rule, boys drool."

"That's not true." Kaz pointed out. I stopped and looked at him.

"You do." I pointed out just as the door bell rang.

"Liar!" Kaz protested. I laughed as I went to answer the door.

"Not about that!" I called back, opening the door. I stopped short, surprised. "Oh my God."

"Hey Dee." Ollie greeted with a smile.

"Oh my God." I placed the bowl of popcorn down on the table in the hall before enveloping my brother in a hug.

"If that's Melody, I gave my shift to Ricky!" Kaz reminded me. I chuckled and stepped to the side so that Ollie could enter the house.

"Wrong cryokinetic, man." Ollie chuckled, walking into the living room. Kaz grinned, eyebrows raising in surprise.

"Hey, Uncle Ollie." Kameron greeted, glancing back at my brother just long enough for Kira to push him off the track again. "Hey!"

"Don't get distracted. Hi Uncle Ollie." Kira exclaimed, not taking her eyes off the screen. Kameron shook his head at her.

"You are freakishly competitive." He commented.

"Gee, I wonder who she got that from." Ollie chuckled before giving Kaz a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Kaz questioned, grinning at my brother. I noticed Ollie's smile fell a bit as he glanced at the kids.

"We should talk." He told us. Kaz frowned, then smiled at the twins.

"You guys keep playing. Kira, stop sabotaging your brother." Kaz told her sternly. Kameron smirked.

"Thank you!" He said dramatically. Kira gave Kaz a look and he subtly gave her a thumbs up, much to her amusement.

"C'mon." I led Ollie and Kaz out to the backyard before turning to face my brother. "What's going on?"

Ollie sighed, looking between the two of us. "We need your help." He told us.


	39. Calla Parker

**2013**

"No! No! You idiot, pass it!" I shouted at the TV. It was football night, which meant that Jaden, the school's football team, Caleb and I were all sitting around my TV, watching the game.

"TOUCHDOWN!" All the boys in the room cheered loudly. My mom appeared in the doorway.

"Calla!" She called. I looked up from my spot next to Caleb. "Phone call."

"Be right back." I told Caleb. He kissed me on the cheek and I picked up the phone, entering my bedroom for more privacy.

"Calla speaking." I greeted.

" _Calla, this is Donald Davenport._ " I froze. No way. No way. NO WAY!

"Oh, hello sir." I tried to hold back my excitement until he said the actual words.

" _I guess you know why I'm calling."_ He chuckled.

"I got the job?" I guessed.

" _Yes. You were the best applicant for the job. Congratulations."_

"Yes!" I let out a tiny squeal, covering the phone with my hand. Then I spoke into again, trying to sound business like. "Thank you sir."

" _When can you start?"_ He asked. I grinned.

"Is tomorrow good?" I asked.

" _Be at the office by four."_  He instructed before hanging up. I was grinning when I walked back into the living room.

"What was that about?" Caleb asked, pulling me into his arms. I grinned and laid my head on his shoulder.

"I got the lab assistant job!" I exclaimed.

"Good. You deserve it." He told me before lifting my head and kissing me. I kissed him back, then after we broke apart, I returned my head to where it had previously been.

"I wonder what it's going to be like." I murmured to myself.

**2014**

I was just getting ready to leave when I heard the front door to the house (mansion) open up, along with voices. "Shoot." I'd meant to get out of here before Mr. Davenport returned, but Adam had stopped me before I could because he was having trouble finding his IPod.

"Hey! Watch the face, termite!" I heard Eddy snap at someone as I walked down the hall. I stopped and chuckled to myself as a short, black kid stared at Eddy's screen in horror.

"Mom, I think the little voice inside my head is back." He announced, seeming freaked out. Mr. Davenport laughed.

"No, this is just Eddy." He said, as if that was supposed to be a reassurance. As one of the few people that had the displeasure to deal with Eddy on an almost daily basis, I could confirm that it was not. "He's my smart home system."

"Hey, yeah. Welcome. Everything here is mine." Eddy, ever the pleasant being, warned the kid before disappearing. I cleared my throat, entering the room.

"Sorry about him, he's not really in a good mood today." I apologized on his behalf.

"Uh, who are you?" The kid questioned, looking at me in confusion.

"Uh Leo, Tasha, this is Calla, my personal lab assistant. She works here after school and on the weekends until four." Mr. Davenport explained. "Calla, this is my new wife Tasha and my stepson Leo."

"Nice to meet you." I greeted them with a smile. "Mr. Davenport hasn't stopped talking about either of you. It's been driving me nuts."

Mr. Davenport gave me a look, but Leo chuckled. "Yeah, probably." He agreed. "Hey, you look familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?"

I shrugged. "Uh, probably at one of the school's football games. My brother's on the team." I wasn't a regular at the parties, but we hosted enough of them that the usual crowd seemed to know who I was. At least they knew me well enough that I was one of the least-bullied nerds in the school, which worked out just fine for me.

"Yeah, I've got no clue who your brother is." Leo admitted. I smirked. So, he wasn't too into sports. He looked vaguely familiar, so I'd figured that maybe he helped out with one of the teams, but maybe we had classes together. Almost all of mine were advanced classes, so he must be kinda smart. Interesting...

"Maybe I'll introduce you or something at school tomorrow." I offered. "Either way, my working day ended ten minutes ago and I'm heading out with some of my friends tonight. But I'll see you around."

I said goodbye to Tasha and Mr. Davenport before heading out the door. Huh, this Leo kid didn't seem too bad. In fact, he seemed genuinely likable. As much as I loved Rebeccka, Jessica, and Caitlin, none of them were into the same things as me, and I couldn't exactly hang out with Adam, Bree, and Chase while I was at school. Maybe Leo was the perfect solution to that little problem.

**2015**

I hadn't realized, as I was trying to get away from Chase and the others, that I'd completely trapped myself. With stacks of huge, heavy boxes and crates on either side of me, and my boyfriend, mind-controlled by the Triton App, standing in front of me, there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run.

I gulped nervously, pressing myself close to the wall. I didn't want to believe that Chase would hurt me - he cared about me, he would never lay a finger on me - but he wasn't in control. And the ones that were...well, they wouldn't hesitate.

That fear was confirmed as Chase used his telekinesis to lift a crate full of heavy appliances above me, ready to drop it. "No, no, no." I found myself pleading desperately, my voice tight with panic. "Seriously, if you can just put that down over by the couch..."

"Calla!" I hear my brother shout. I looked around desperately, hoping that one of the others were free enough to give me a hand. My gaze met Mr. Davenport's, who was hiding behind the counter.

"Chase, don't drop it!" He shouted, catching his son's attention. Chase looked at me, but the box still floated precariously above my head. "Listen to me. The Triton app only controls your bionics, not your human side. You have to fight it."

Chase turned back to glare at me, but Mr. Davenport had thrown me a lifeline, and I'd be damned if I didn't use it to try and fight for my life. "Yes, Chase." I nodded quickly, trying to smile a little. "Remember all the great times we had? All the amazing inventions we built? The time Jaden caught us kissing on the porch and he attacked you with a Nerf gun?"

Mr. Davenport shook his head at me and I shrugged a little. "Okay, not really that cool, but we were together!"

The box started to lower, my words doing nothing to dissuade Chase. I sucked in a terrified breath, my legs shaky beneath me as I tried not to drop to the floor. "It's not working!" I cried.

"Calla, keep trying! It's our only chance!" Mr. Davenport encouraged. I nodded and forced myself to take a deep breath in an attempt to steady myself.

"Chase, I was your first friend. I met you long before Leo did and I've always been there for you! Even when Adam and Bree were making fun of you because of your intelligence, I was right by your side, insulting them right back." I could feel my voice growing stronger as I spoke, but even better, I could see conflict appear in Chase's eyes. Maybe it was working! Gaining confidence, I pressed on. "Chase, remember when we first met, all those years ago? Remember the first time we danced together? Chase, don't you remember our first kiss?"

Chase paused, and I bit my lip, hoping, praying that my words were getting through to him. "Chase, try and remember!" I heard Mr. Davenport add, but my eyes were locked on Chase.

"Chase, you've got to remember that kiss, at least! You and me, together, alone in the lab…" It was an amazing kiss. Even brainwashed, he should remember that. God knows I'll never forget it. "Chase, I know you can hear me. You mean everything to me, and I know I mean just as much to you. Come on Chase! I know my boyfriend's in there! Where is he Chase? Where's the boy that I fell in love with?"

I stepped forward a bit and noticed that the box didn't move. What the hell? He was either going to kill me or not, and if he did, well, I wasn't going to fight him, now was I? Instead, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him towards me, my lips pressing against his desperately. I didn't feel anything from him as I kissed him, so when I pulled away, I gave him one last pleading look. "Come back to me, Chase. Please."

Suddenly, the box above me went flying across the room. Chase's hand dropped limply to his side. He stared at me for a moment with glazed eyes, before collapsing.

"Chase!" I exclaimed, rushing to his side. I tapped his cheeks a few times. "Come on Boy Wonder. It's time to wake up now."

**2015**

"Calla?" My eyes snapped open as I felt a hand land on my shoulder and I sat up, instantly awake. "Whoa, easy." Chase chuckled, raising one hand in surrender while the other held a porcelain mug that had the periodic table cells for cobalt, fluorine, and iron on it. "Just me."

"Hi." I blinked tiredly. I frowned, confused as I looked around. "Shit, I must have fallen asleep."

"Yeah, I guess. Wasn't exactly awake when you dropped by." He commented. I shrugged, then glanced at Adam, who was drooling into a throw pillow.

"Couldn't sleep." I explained. I smiled at his cheesily. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He bent down to kiss me. He was smiling when he pulled away. "By the way, did you have to eat all of Leo's Oreos?"

"I…" It was hard to deny it when I'd somehow ended up falling asleep with the package of Oreos on my lap. "Can we just blame it on Bree?"

"If you want, but I'm pretty sure that if we told him that he slept walked and ate them, he might believe it." He commented with a chuckle. I gave him a look.

"He's smarter than that." I pointed out.

"Yes, but if everyone tells him, we might just convince him." He insisted. I grinned, sitting up completely and swinging my legs over onto the ground.

"It's worth a try." I agreed. He smiled and offered me the steaming mug.

"I made breakfast." He called over his shoulder. I smiled and started to follow him, stopping only to take a sip of my coffee.

I stared at Chase as the taste hit my lips, utterly disappointed. "This is decaf!" I cried.

"You have a concussion." He reminded me.

"Then why would you poison me with this?" I demanded, taking a seat. I could hear Davenport and Douglas on the porch, laughing at us, but I didn't care.

"Because you shouldn't drink caffeine when you have a concussion." He told me, kissing me on the nose before placing a plate in front of me. "And I made you crepes to make up for it."

"Okay." I sighed dramatically, earning another laugh from Chase just as Leo made his way down the stairs. "Morning, Dooley."

"Morning…hey." He stopped at the couch, immediately spotting the empty Oreo container on the ground. "What happened to my Oreos?"

Chase and I looked at each other. "You ate them." We said in perfect sync, both of us trying not to laugh.

**2016**

I sighed, feeling waves of nostalgia rush over me. I'd known that this was coming, but it hadn't hit me until now just how final this all seemed.

By this time tomorrow, I wasn't going to be here anywhere. I was going to be in a new city, in a new state, working on a completely different mission than anything I'd ever worked on at the Academy. And while the opportunity excited me, there was going to be something missing. Well, three things missing.

Jaden, my loving, overprotective, ever loyal big brother who'd always had my back, even when I was lying to him and Mom about all this bionic stuff. Adam, a brother in all but blood, who'd always found a way to make me laugh and smile even though we were so very different people. And Leo, my best friend, and essentially my platonic other half. I'd been through so much with him especially, even more than I had with Chase, and the thought of him suddenly being gone from my life literally made my heart ache.

I rolled my head over to look at Leo, who was lying on the bed next to me. "I don't want to say goodbye." I admitted.

"Neither do I." He agreed, staring at the ceiling. "It's stupid, but I always figured that we'd all be working here for the rest of our lives."

I couldn't help but laugh lightly at the concept. "Dido." I nodded. "But I guess we're not kids anymore, Leo. It's time to grow up."

"We haven't been 'kids' since Krane had Taylor post that video." He pointed out, looking at me. I knew he was right; everything had changed for us that day. We had to grow up and be heroes since then.

"Still, don't you wish we still could be?" I glanced at him. "Don't you wish we were back when our biggest problems were keeping Davenport from finding out how we broke one of his inventions?"

"Those were the days." Leo agreed nostalgically. I looked at him for a bit, hating how those days were behind us.

"You will come and visit, right?" I requested from him, my voice soft. "I'll send you the address of wherever Davenport sends us, and you'll come and visit."

"I won't give you any warning." Leo cautioned jokingly.

"That's fine. Show up out of the blue." I agreed. "But don't be surprised if I tackle you to the ground or something."

"I can't wait." He chuckled, sitting up beside me so that our shoulders were touching. "But the same goes for you. Take that Geoleap watch and surprise us whenever you feel like it."

"It's not a Geoleap watch. It has many functions, not just Geo-Leaping." I argued. "But yeah, I'll come visit. After all, where am I going to get burgers as great as Jaden's?"

"Wait, what else does your watch do?" He questioned, tapping it with his fingers. I smiled, holding out my arm so I could examine it. It looked like your every day digital watch (though I did put the initials C.P. on the back so I wouldn't mix it up with any of Chase's or something), except the only one of the eight buttons on the side actually had anything to do with the time.

"Well, so far it only has the Geoleap App, but I've developing a few more for it. The next one will be ready by the end of the month." I replied proudly. Mr. Davenport had ordered me to build an arsenal of tools and weapons for myself, claiming that I would need them for this new project, and I was not about to disappoint. So far, I had several projects in development, including a new weapon and a new way for us to communicate on missions. Not bad for a couple of weeks' worth of work.

"Well, I guess this is it, Parker." Leo hummed. I nodded.

"I suppose it is, Dooley." I looked at him and held out my fist. "Kick ass?"

"Only if you do." He replied, bumping his fist against mine.

**2017**

"So what's this announcement you wanted to make?" Adam asked eagerly. I smirked a little at the excitement in his voice, knowing that he'd been waiting to ask Mr. Davenport that. We'd all been waiting actually, curious to know what was such a big deal. After all, it wasn't every day that he brought the entire family from Mission Creek for a visit, and we knew whatever his news was had to be important.

"Wait, you guys don't know?" Kaz questioned, surprised. Leo shook his head.

"No." He replied before glancing at me. We'd had our theories, of course. I thought that Davenport might be moving the family out here, while Leo insisted that he would have told them by now. He figured that he was going to officially invite Kaz, Dani, Skylar, and Oliver to join the Academy for once this was all over, but I wasn't too sure about that either.

"Alright." Mr. Davenport glanced at Tasha before standing up to address us all. "So, as a few of you know, it's been a big year for me, between Naomi and some of the big things happening at Davenport Industries. It's been particularly busy, and I haven't had nearly as much time to devote to either of them. So, I've decided to go into early retirement."

We all exchanged looks, caught off guard by his announcement. Things had been crazy at Davenport Industries - Davenport had asked me when we moved to Centium City to oversee the work going on there, and business was certainly booming. Davenport had already needed to open another office in Boston, and there was discussion about opening another overseas factory. I knew that it had been pulling his attention away from the family and the Academy, but I hadn't expected retirement any time soon.

Douglas would be thrilled though - he'd likely take over the company for a few years, until Chase was done with this team and was ready to run the company himself. He was the obvious choice for the job - I didn't see Davenport looking outside the family for his successor.

"Early retirement?" Despite the teasing tone to Dani's voice, I could tell that she, and the others, were equally surprised by his announcement. But then she smirked. "Aren't you, like, eighty?"

"No!" Mr. Davenport insisted.

"Oh. I guess I lost that bet." She sighed dramatically before slipping Kaz a twenty dollar bill.

"You're seriously going to retire?" Bree questioned seriously. He nodded.

"You guys have all pointed out the…mistakes I made when I raised you guys, and I wanted to try again with Naomi. I've got more than enough money to retire on, and this way I can give her my full attention." He explained. Skylar smiled.

"Aw, that's sweet." She commented to Tasha's amusement.

"Please." She scoffed. "He's doing it so he can work on his own inventions all day rather than actual work."

Mr. Davenport smiled at her fondly, chuckling. "So, when do you leave?" Leo inquired eagerly. He smiled. "And when do I take over?"

"Leo..." Chase scolded gently. I chuckled, reaching for my glass of water.

"I'll be leaving the company next summer..." Mr. Davenport answered as I took a drink.

"And Calla is going to succeed me."

I was so surprised by those words that I choked on my drink, the water coming back up as I forgot how to breathe. I could feel Chase's hand on my back, rubbing it to try and help, as I just stared at Mr. Davenport in utter shock. "W-What?" I eventually found my voice, but that's all I was able to say. I couldn't have heard him correctly. No way did he actually say that he was going to make me CEO.

"I want you to take over the company when I leave. I want Davenport Industries to stay in the family, and as your and Chase's wedding is in a few weeks, that makes you family." He continued to speak. I continued to stare. "And no one cares about the tech more than you."

"Yeah..." I nodded before frowning. "What?" He chuckled at my reaction. "Seriously? Me?" He nodded. "Seriously?"

"You didn't know?" Kaz guessed. I shook my head, blinking as if to wake myself up from this dream.

"Oh my God, no, but..." I just couldn't process this. Me, CEO of Davenport Industries. First of all, I never expected to be made CEO, ever. I always figured there would be someone better suited for the job. I was good at what I did, but I was a woman in a field conquered by men, and God, I was so young compared to some of the other candidates, and even without all that, I didn't think I was at the top of his list. "What about Chase? I figured when you retired, you'd leave it to him."

"I don't want to run it." Chase said quickly. I stared at him, and he smiled. "I want to go into politics, and I don't want to be worrying about running a business and an election campaign at the same time. I want to run the country one day, and running a country and running a business are two very different things. Besides, it's not exactly a secret that you want to run a company like Davenport Industries."

"Yeah, but-" How could I explain that I'd always considered my chance to run a company like this a pipe dream unless I'd broken off from Davenport Industries to create my own? My god...Me, CEO. It was nearly impossible to wrap my head around. Davenport was making me CEO. At the age of 19 (or 20, by time the paperwork would go through), I was going to be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Hell, I was fairly certain that that would make me one of the youngest CEOs in America, possibly even the youngest... "Seriously?"

"Dude, just say yes." I heard Kaz whisper.

"Yes?" I echoed. Mr. Davenport raised an eyebrow at me, waiting for me to regain some sense. I took a deep breath, the shock finally starting to settle. "I mean, thank you, sir. I'd be honored to succeed you."

Mr. Davenport smiled. "There's a couple of conditions." He warned me. I nodded. Of course, that made sense. "One, f you're going to stay a part of the team, that's great, but I think you should find a personal assistant to help you out if that's the case. And two, try and keep Leo involved, would you? We'll never hear the end of it if you don't."

"Of course." I smiled brightly before glancing at Leo. "I have a few ideas of what he can do."

Leo looked at me. "If you make me a janitor, I will sabotage your wedding." He told me, completely serious. I laughed a little at that, feeling like I was on cloud nine.

**2020**

I bit into my knuckles, forcing myself to sit quietly on the ground while I waited. Every part of me wanted, no,  _needed_ , to go check the test right now, and find out for sure, but I knew it would take at least a few minutes.

Kaz had been the one to suggest that I take the test, actually. It wasn't that I had any of the usual symptoms – I wasn't nauseous, and I hadn't had any unusual food cravings lately – but the frequent headaches, strange cramps in my legs, and the weird feeling of being tired all the time had gotten me concerned enough to mention it to the doctor. It hadn't even occurred to me that I might be pregnant until Kaz had suggested it, and even then, he didn't seem so sure of it himself. He'd only mentioned that his mom had had similar symptoms when pregnant with one of his sisters, and that a lot of pregnant superheroes would report the less common symptoms of pregnancy before the more obvious ones.

So, while everyone else was either out at work or, in Oliver and Skylar's case, on a date, I sat in the bathroom, waiting to find out how much trouble I was in. Because on one hand, if I wasn't pregnant, then I should probably get checked out by Horace or something, and it could be something bad (or maybe not, I could just be overreacting to this whole thing altogether), but on the other hand, if I was pregnant, that would mean…well, that would mean I was pregnant!

Chase and I had talked about kids before, yeah, and we'd both agreed that we wanted them, but in the future. Like, when we were all set career-wise, and we didn't have to worry about missions, and supervillains, and evil androids (like any of us actually believed that Marcus was the last one we would ever have to face). Not when we were barely in our twenties, on a team of superhumans, and living with three other people.

I took a deep breath as I glanced at my phone. Okay, enough time had passed.

I hesitated before looking at the test, instead looking at myself in the mirror. Whatever this test said, whatever it meant for me and Chase, we'd figure it out. He'd have my back, no matter what.

The moment I turned the test over and saw the two little red lines, I felt my heart soar, and a slow smile made its way onto my face.

**2024**

I should have known something was off a while ago, I realized. Too many weird things had happened in my life that something like this shouldn't have been dismissed as coincidence or accident, but then again, it had been nearly three years since anything particularly weird happened in Centium City.

It started out with the little things, I supposed. A malfunctioning laptop. A TV left on when neither Chase nor I had been watching it. My ringtone mysteriously changing to the Magic School Bus theme song (that had been a rather confusing experience). I'd just dismissed them altogether as tech being stubborn, or a glitch, or a prank by AJ or Spin (who'd been coming by more and more lately, for reasons that Chase and I could only speculate on). It wasn't until AJ pointed it out did I realize what was going on.

"Why is Emily watching Funeral Mishaps?" I looked up as AJ walked in, school bag hanging over his shoulder.

"What? No she's…oh, shit!" I scrambled for the remote, quickly changing it back to Little Einsteins. Emily frowned and looked at me, but then turned back to her show.

"Douglas babysitting again?" AJ chuckled, dropping his bag on the couch. He sat down next to Emily, and my three-year-old climbed into his lap to watch TV from, abandoning the papers she'd been scribbling on.

"No, it keeps changing. I think he's got a recording set or something." I muttered, going back to my work.

"I like it. It's funny." Emily insisted.

"It's not for little kids, sweetie." I told her, rubbing my temples as I examined the lines of code in front of me for the third time. Davenport Industries was working on new holophones – I was determined to have them out by Christmas if it killed me – but some sort of glitch in the programing kept having them shut down after thirty minutes of use. I'd already eliminated the possibility of it being a hardware issue, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out the-

"Whoa!" I looked up suddenly at AJ's sudden cry, only to see him and Emily watching TV, which had been changed once again to Funeral Mishaps.

"Are you kidding me?" I quickly changed the channel again.

"Mommy!" Emily protested.

"No, Emily. I'm going to have the DVR looked at tomorrow." I told AJ. He shook his head, staring at Emily. "Why shouldn't I?"

"Emmy, do that again." He told my daughter. She frowned, then shook her head. "You won't get in trouble, I promise."

Emily looked at me. I glanced between her and AJ, wondering what the kid was getting at before nodding slowly. "I won't be mad, honey." I said in utter confusion. Emily shrugged and clapped her hands together. Suddenly, the TV channels switched from Little Einsteins back to Funeral Mishaps. "What the hell?"

Emily frowned, looking at me. "Am I in trouble?" She asked. I leaned on the back of the couch.

"You did that?" I questioned. She nodded hesitantly. "Do it again."

She frowned, but clapped her hands together. This time, the channel changed to the Discovery Channel, then, as if to prove a point, she clapped three more times and it changed to the weather channel, Magic School Bus (well, that answered that question) and finally, Phineas and Ferb. "Oh my God." I murmured, staring at Emily.

There'd always been the possibility of her having powers – my little incident with the Arcturion Space Rock when I was younger had altered my DNA just enough for the superhuman gene (or the xenohuman gene, as the scientists working for S.H.I.R.T. had begun to call it) to form. We'd always known that she might develop abilities, but after the first year of absolute normality, we'd kinda forgotten about it.

"Am I in trouble?" Emily repeated her questioned. Regaining some of my composure, I shook my head, lips pressed together worriedly. "Can I watch more Funeral Mishaps?"

"No." I said quickly, much to her disappointment. I looked at AJ. "So, how do you want to tell Chase that Emily might be a superhero?"

**2036**

I sighed, leaning in the doorframe to my daughter's room. Emily was lying in bed, curled up on her side, but it didn't take a genius to tell that she wasn't asleep.

"Alright, roll over." I patted her leg, sitting down on the edge of her bed before placing the plastic cup in my hands onto the ground by my feet. She purposefully ignored me, shifting her legs in an attempt to get comfortable. "Honey, if you're going to pretend to be asleep, I suggest fully turning off your holophone next time." Before she could stop me, I picked up the small, circular device, about the size of a Canadian toonie. She'd thought to turn the screen off before I'd come in, but the flashing lights on the bottom of it have given her away. "What were you looking at…oh, Emily." I sighed when I turned it on and saw the article she was looking at.

Emily sat up then and fixed with an annoyed glare. "Give it back." She requested in a too hoarse voice, reaching one hand for it. I placed it back in her hand, shaking my head.

"You know that googling the event isn't going to make you feel any better." I commented. She pouted.

"It's not fair that I can't go." She complained. I grimaced sympathetically as she sniffed and reached to wipe at her nose.

"I know it isn't." I told her, plucking a tissue from the box by her bed and handing it to her. "But you have a fever, honey. You're sick."

"Well, it's not fair that I'm sick." She insisted before blowing her nose. She twisted around to toss the now crumpled tissue into her garbage can and I winced when I saw how full it was. She plopped back down on the bed, letting out an annoyed groan. "Charlotte got to go."

"Charlotte's not sick." I pointed out. She groaned again.

"Lucky her." She muttered sarcastically. I chuckled.

"C'mon, it's not that bad. You've got your TV, and your computer, and don't tell me that you already given up on that robot you and your dad were working on." I reminded her. She sighed.

"Dad kinda…took over." She admitted. I sighed, though I wasn't all that surprised. "It's okay though, I was kinda getting bored with it. Besides, having a pet robot isn't all that cool."

I gasped dramatically. "What could be cooler than a pet robot?" I questioned rhetorically. Emily smiled slyly.

"I can think of something." She admitted. I raised an eyebrow at that.

"Such as?" I waited for her to elaborate.

"A pet dog." She reasoned. I looked at her, and her expression changed to that of a begging puppy.

"Are you serious right now?" I questioned.

"Please?" Emily batted her eyelashes at me, and I couldn't help but laugh. "You can't say no to me, Im sick!"

"How long have you been waiting on this one?" I questioned. She shrugged.

"Couple of months." She admitted sheepishly. "Been waiting for the right moment to ask."

"And this is it?" I asked. She considered it, then nodded.

"This is it." She agreed. I chuckled, and she smiled. "So?"

"You know what?" She was grinning before I'd even finished what I was saying. "If you get your dad on board, and pay for everything yourself, and promise that you'll be the one to take care of it…sure."

"Awesome. I already have some breeds in mind – I've got a list on my computer if you want to see." She told me. I laughed.

"How about you get some rest first? You're still sick." I reminded her. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, before I forget…" I reached down and picked up the drink I'd bought for her. "Caramel Frappuccino, straight from Starbucks."

"Awesome." Emily beamed brightly, taking her favorite drink from me.

"Rest." I instructed, getting up. "And do not tell your dad about that – God knows I won't hear the end of it."

"Thanks Mom!" Emily called after me as I started to head back towards the kitchen.

**2038**

"So, what's you working on?" Naomi inquired, looking at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Emily straining her neck to get a better view of the blueprints on my holoscreen from where she was sitting.

"The new hoverboard designs. We're finally out of the theoretical phase and into prototypes." I explained as I adjusted one of the settings on the prototype.

"Hey, we can test those out with you, right?" Emily asked expectantly. I gave her a look, remembering the last time she and Charlotte had offered to help me test a prototype. She smiled. "I'll wash dishes for a week."

"It's a deal." I agreed. I usually didn't allow them to help test them until they were basically store-ready, but Chase and I needed to have a conversation with Emily and Naomi that I didn't think my daughter was going to like too much. Hopefully, it would make her a little more receptive to the situation. "Hey, listen, I want everyone home for dinner tomorrow, alright? Your dad and I need to talk to you guys about something."

"Is everything alright?" Emily asked softly, frowning. I smiled at her.

"Yeah, of course." I didn't want to worry her. Before she could ask anymore questions, by Davenwatch beeped, letting me know I had a call. I tapped the call button on the side of it. "Calla Davenport-"

 _"Hey Calla. It's me."_  Skylar Storm's voice came in through the earpiece I was wearing.

"Oh, hey Skylar." I greeted.

 _"Hey, can we talk?"_  I frowned at her tone. We'd only spoken a week ago, and I'd expected her to call me back to work out the details of everything, but this sounded different.

"What's up?" I inquired.

 _"Things have changed. A lot."_  Skylar told me. I nodded, then glanced at the girls. Maybe I shouldn't have this conversation here.

"Hold on, give me a sec." I requested, heading for the hyperlift. Once I was on the main floor, where Chase was the only one who could overhear the conversation, I focused back on the call. "Okay, start at the beginning. Tell me what's going on."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow the adventures of the next generation of heroes - Naomi Davenport, Benjamin "Aftershock" VanOver, Noah Parker, Emily Davenport, Kira "Pyra" Broadman, Kameron "Voltage" Broadman, Seraphina Storm, and Charlotte Dooley in Legacies: A New Team


End file.
